The Oyo State Police Command has alleged that a personal assistant attached to the family of former Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, provided critical information that enabled the abduction of his sister, Mrs Olaide Busayo Adegoke John-Paul, and her 12-year-old twin sons.
The command said the aide, identified as Segun, allegedly fed the kidnappers with details of the family’s daily routine, movement patterns and vulnerability, which were used to execute the operation.
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ayanlade Olayinka, disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television’s
The Morning Brief, where he provided updates on the ongoing investigation.
Mrs John-Paul and her twin sons, Peter and Paul, were abducted on June 3, 2026, at the Elewura axis of Ring Road, Ibadan, while she was taking them to school.
They were later rescued alive during a coordinated operation on June 6, which also led to the death of two suspected kidnappers.
Ayanlade said the rescue mission was carried out on the directive of the Inspector-General of Police and coordinated by the Oyo State Commissioner of Police in conjunction with operatives of the Force Intelligence Department’s Intelligence Response Team (FID-IRT).
He explained that one of the principal suspects, known as Ololu, had long been on the command’s watch list before his eventual arrest.
“Of course, one of the perpetrators by name popularly called Ololu has been on the command’s watch list. The operatives continued to trail him until his eventual arrest,” he said.
According to him, intelligence obtained from Ololu led investigators to another suspect, identified as Dare, also known as Solution.
Preliminary findings, he added, indicated that Shehu, who worked closely with the family, was approached and allegedly recruited to provide insider information about their movements and routine.
“The one who was with the family, who happened to be a personal assistant by name Shehu, was one of those who we picked. He was the one that was first approached to give them inside information of how the family lives, their lifestyle, their routine and all,” Ayanlade said.
The police further alleged that the kidnappers initially planned to abduct the children’s mother after monitoring the family’s pattern of movement.
However, the plan changed when they realised that a driver usually took the children to school. On the day of the incident, the mother reportedly drove them herself, prompting the abductors to strike.
“The initial plan was to kidnap the mother. However, they realised that it was the driver who usually takes them to school, and they changed their plan to go for the kids. Unfortunately, that day it was the mother who drove them to school, and they swung into action,” he added.
Ayanlade said the victims were traced to a hideout in Ibadan on June 6 at about 7:30 p.m., following sustained intelligence-led operations.
He disclosed that during the rescue attempt, a suspect identified as Kelechi, who reportedly travelled from Lagos for the operation, opened fire on operatives.
“They opened fire on the operatives, and then the operatives professionally and with tactical precision neutralised him and the second, who was also there to give a covering fire for him,” he said.
The police confirmed that arms and ammunition were recovered from the suspects, while the rescued victims were found unharmed.
Ayanlade added that investigations were still ongoing, with efforts intensified to apprehend other fleeing members of the gang.
“I would not want to preempt the investigation. The investigation is still ongoing. The suspects are in custody. We are still on the trail of the rest of them that escaped,” he stated.
