Three persons including a father and daughter have been arrested by the police in connection with the abduction of a Muslim cleric, Alhaji Ibra Alli Bodunde, in Ondo State.

The 67-year-old cleric, who is the Chief Imam of the Uso Community, in the Owo Local Government Area of the state, was kidnapped while working on his farm last month.

He was released the following day after reportedly paying N2m ransom.

Parading the suspects at the command headquarters in Akure, the state capital, on Tuesday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Funmilayo Odunlami, said the suspects were arrested following the prompt action of the operatives of the command.

According to her, the suspects include Muinah Mohammed, Aisha Bello and Isah Bello.

She said, “On June 18, 2023, one Mrs Bodunde, around 6pm, went to the Uso Division to complain that her husband, Alli Bodunde, went to the farm and he was supposed to come back around 2pm but unfortunately when they did not see him, they sent two persons to the farm to look for him.

“When they got to the farm, they saw his car and his mobile phone but they could not see him. Immediately after the case was reported, the police swung into action and at the end of the day, the man was released.

“But during the investigation, we realised that the man in question is the Chief Imam of the Uso community and through our intelligence team we were able to arrest the suspects.”

One of the suspects, Isah Bello, said his accomplice, Mohammed, collected his SIM card from his daughter, Aisha, and the SIM card was used to call the victim’s family for negotiation for the ransom.

Bello said, “My daughter (Aisha) came to me to collect my other SIM card from me. I asked what she wanted to use the SIM card for, and she didn’t give me any serious answer but since I don’t use the SIM card any longer, I gave it to her.

“I didn’t know what they used the SIM card for. I don’t know this boy (Mohammed). I didn’t know anything about the matter. I was not arrested, it was my people that told me about the matter, so I went to report myself at the Area Command office.”

On her part, Aisha admitted that she gave her father’s SIM card to Mohammed but claimed to be oblivious to the purpose for which he collected the SIM card.

Odunlami said the suspects would soon be charged in court at the end of the investigation.