By Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta
The Police on Friday paraded four herdsmen who, allegedly, abducted the Vice – Chairman of Remo North Local Government Area of Ogun State, Hon. Soniyi Taiwo.
The suspects – Muhammad Abdulahi,25; Ibrahim Dikko, 20; Gambo Abdulahi, 25, and Mohammed Sulaimon,23, were said to have kidnapped Soniyi, a member of the Transition Committee of Remo Local Government, on January 10 along Fidiwo – Ipara road while returning from an outing.
Soniyi abductors demanded for a ransom of N50 million but they were arrested following intense manhunt by a special unit of the Ogun State Police Command which poured into the forest at the Fidiwo axis of the Lagos – Ibadan expressway, combing it for days until the kidnappers set him free upon discovering that the Police were closing in on them.
The Commissioner of Police(CP), Kenneth Ebrimson who paraded the suspects at the state police command in Eleweran, Abeokuta, said the suspects were arrested after the command’s “technical and forensic investigation” enabled it to geo-locate them and the victim in the forest.
Ebrimson added that the initiaal arrest of three of the suspects, led to the subsequent arrest of the fourth member of the gang who fled but was tracked to Idi-Ayunre in Ibadan, Oyo state capital.
”Having realised that the police were closing in on them, the hoodlums released their victim, but three (3) members of the gang were subsequently apprehended as a result of an intense combing of the bush where they were traced to,” he said.
The CP noted that the victim, Soniyi, had identified the suspects as his abductors, stressing that the confessional statement already extracted from them would also assist the police apprehend other fleeing gang members.
He maintained that no ransom was paid before the politician’s freedom was secured.
Leave a Reply