Inhabitants of Osun State were left in disbelief following the emergence of a short nude clip of the Majority Leader of the Osun State House of Assembly, Mr Timothy Owoeye.

In the video clip, Owoeye, representing Ilesa East, was caught by some persons who alleged he was performing a ritual bath in the market square for success in the forthcoming elections.

But sources close to Owoeye said he was kidnapped by a ritual syndicate who recorded the video with the aim of extorting money from him.

The source said;

“There was nothing like what they were saying. He was not caught taking his bath with blood. He was kidnapped by some fraudsters who took him to the place, and if he was bathing with blood, the video will show traces of blood on him but there is nothing like that. He was stripped and he was not even bathing.

“The video recording is very lengthy but it was edited to blackmail him. He was swindled and the police have recovered over N9 million. The police have the complete recording. He went to his church for a thanksgiving after the incident because he was not killed.”

The Commissioner of Police in Osun State, Mr Fimihan Adeoye, told newsmen on the telephone that the police have arraigned those behind the leaked video on Friday and the court ordered that they should be remanded in prison custody.

He described them as fraudsters who were threatening to blackmail the lawmakers with the aim of extorting money from him.

He said,

“We recovered over N10 million from them, they are fraudsters who are ready to blackmail him as part of their strategy to stop him from complaining to the police.

“He was gullible and he fell into the hands of fraudsters. He was lured into the hands of the fraudsters by somebody he claimed he had known for a long time. Unknown to him, the man is a fraudster too and they went ahead to collect a lot of money from him. He went and borrowed because they were collecting the money from him continuously.

“He was then taken to around Osunjela where he was made to undress. Unknown to him, the fraudsters had positioned some people who shot the video when he was assaulted. But we thank God that he summoned the courage and reported the case to the police.”