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Tag: kidnappers

  • Police arrest 23 suspected kidnappers in Nasarawa

    The Police Command in Nasarawa State has arrested 23 suspected armed robbers and kidnappers in August, the Commissioner of Police, Yahaya Bello, said on Friday.

    Bello told newsmen in Lafia that the suspects were arrested following distress calls and privileged information from courageous members of the public.

    According to the him, 17 of the suspects were arrested on August 2, for alleged armed robbery and kidnapping around Mararaba Udege in Nasarawa Local Government area of the state.

    Bello added that four others were arrested on August 9, at Kadarko in Keana Local Government area by a combined team of F-SARS operatives, Counter Terrorism Unit and conventional policemen.

    He said that the four of those arrested were believed to be among the gang terrorizing commuters along Lafia-Makurdi road.

    Bello, however, said that two policemen sustained severe injuries during one of the operations.

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    The commissioner disclosed that one Ali Mohammed was arrested along Akwanga-Keffi on Aug. 29, with an Ak47 riffle while allegedly on his way to Dogon Daji village in Kaduna State to avenge the killing of his brother.

    Similarly, Bello said another suspect, Timothy Jija was arrested on August 30 with an AK 47 riffle at the yam market in Kadarko village along Lafia-Makurdi road.

    He listed the items recovered from the suspects to include: Four AK 47 riffles, One G3 riffle, Two revolvers, 30 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, knives and charms.

    Other items recovered are 26 mobile phones, Two IPads, a laptop and wraps of dry leaves suspected to be ‘Indian Hemp’.

    He appealed for more support from the public towards curbing violent crimes in the state.

    The commissioner urged residents with useful security information to call 08108795930, 08112692680 and 08108795980, for quick intervention by the police.

  • Kogi: Five suspected kidnappers arrested

    The Kogi State Police Command Monday said it has arrested five notorious kidnappers allegedly responsible for abducting and robbing people along the Okene -Lokoja road.

    Those paraded by the command included those that allegedly abducted Rev. Leo Micheal and Usman Adoga, the chief of Jakura community, Lokoja LGA, recently.

    Read Also:‘Why I don’t buy phones from robbers, kidnappers’

    Parading the suspected kidnappers before newsmen, the state police commissioner, Ali Janga said the five suspects were arrested based on intelligent report.

    According to him, one of the suspects, Ibrahim Musa that was part of the gang which abducted Father Micheal at Irepeni village, and the chief of Jakura, gave useful information to the police, adding that the command is on the trail of other suspects connected with the incident.

    He said that N240, 000 was recovered from them.

    He appealed to members of the public to always avail the command with information of happenings around them in order to flush out criminals from the state.

    He disclosed that N1.1m was paid as ransom to the gang members, before the release of the chief of Jakura, adding that the command will arraign the suspects in court immediately they complete their investigation.

    One of the suspects, Musa confessed to partaking in the kidnap operation, saying that adding that another member of the gang, Shagari, shot and killed the chief’s son, in one of their operations.

    Musa who claimed that he’s from Niger State, said he has been into kidnapping and robbery for years, adding that he relocated to Kogi State with others to “continue making  money” from banditry.

    The chief of Jakura, Usman Adoga, said he ran into the gang, and unfortunately, lost his son in the process, adding that he was dragged to unknown places in the bush, where he spent five days before regaining his freedom.

     

  • ‘Why I don’t buy phones from robbers, kidnappers’

    A 42-year-old suspected receiver of stolen phones, Usman Garuba, has said he does not buy phones and other items from robbers or kidnappers because he can be arrested.

    Usman, who was nabbed on July 27, said he usually bought phones from pick pockets in Nigeria and took them to Benin Republic where the phones could not be tracked by security agents.

    He said stolen phones are easily sold in Benin Republic for a huge amount, rather than in Nigeria.

    Three pick pockets paraded with Usman are Ezekiel Ayorinde, 21; Omorogbe Samuel, 22 and James Okechukwu, 23.

    The trio confessed they sold the phones they stole to Usman at prices, ranging from N5,000 to N10,000.

    Okechukwu, from Anambra State, said they were arrested after one of them, Omorogbe, was nabbed for alleged kidnapping and robbery.

    He said they were at the police station to tell the police that Omorogbe was a pick pocket like them and not a kidnapper or robber.

    Okechukwu said: “We operate at Third Junction. My friend was arrested and police said they traced his phone to a kidnap gang. We came to tell the police that he was not a kidnapper, but a pick pocket like us. That was how the police nabbed us.

  • Police arrest suspected kidnappers who sold victims’ cars after collecting ransom

    Suspected kidnappers who specialised in selling their victims’ cars after collecting ransom have been arrested by the operatives of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT).

    The suspects, according to police sources had warned their victims not to inform the police.

    Police sources said the gang’s notorious operations in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Ondo, Osun, Oyo and Kogi states caught the attention of the Inspector General of Police(IGP) Ibrahim Idris  in April, 2018.

    IGP Idris was said to have on April 4, 2018 directed IRT’s Commander Abba Kyari to apprehend members of the notorious gang.

    Subsequently, one of the leaders of the gang, Akinjide Ibitoye Orilakun, 35, was arrested along Ilara, a town in Ogun state, which shares boundary with the Benin Republic.

    Orilakun was said to have mentioned one Olayide Atoyibe Dada, 36, as one of the regular receivers of their loot.

    Other top members of the gang arrested between April 18 and June 10 are: Olanrewaju Joseph,33, aka Mechine, who was arrested in Ipetumodu area of Osun State; Osai Amechi Nelson, who was arrested in the Toll Gate area of Ibadan, Oyo State and Olatunbosun Fisayo aka Alagbada, who was also arrested in Osun State.

    Confessing, Olanrewaju, a Higher National Diploma (HND) holder and father of one said: “ I studied Banking and Finance at Osun State Polytechnic, and graduated in 2012. I am a member of Eye confraternity and I joined in 2009 when I was in the school but I didn’t fight anyone until I graduated.’’

    The suspect said he ventured into plumbing work in Rivers State, after he could not secure a job upon his graduation from school.

    ‘’In 2013, my plumbing shop got burnt in Port Harcourt, and I came back to Osun State in 2013. On December 27, 2013, I attended my old student association party and I met one of my old friends known as Olaniyi Olakunle. He asked what I was doing for a living and I told him that I had no job and that my shop in Port Harcourt had got burnt. He then said that he would want me to join him in his car smuggling business in Cotonou in Benin Republic.

    ‘’On the first day of my visit to his compound, I saw many vehicles and he asked us to take one of the cars to Eket in Akwa Ibom State. When we returned he gave me a sum of N50,000, which he said was my driving fee. In January 2014, he called me and said he had seven phones for me to sell, I sold six of the phones and I kept one for myself. When I gave him the money, he told me that we were going to Eket but on our way, he stopped at Oshogbo and he told me that he wanted to pick someone, but before I knew what was happening he snatched a car at gun point and we took the car to Eket that night.

    ‘’The next day, I told him that I wasn’t comfortable with what he did, but he told me that I must live with it because I am now part of the gang. He gave me N120,000 when we returned to Osun, unfortunately,  the police tracked me with the phone I collected from him and I was taken to  Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Akure, Ondo State, where IRT operatives asked me how I got the phone and I told them that my friend gave me the phone to sell.I later took detectives to Ilesa to arrest him, but when we got to his house, Olakunle jumped from his house and escaped but his wife was arrested.

  • Kidnappers place N15m ransom on senatorial aspirant’s dad

    There is tension in Igbo-Eze North Local Government of Enugu State, following the abduction of a community leader, Chief Lawrence Chukwuemeka Eya, by suspected kidnappers.

    Eya, 68, was trailed to Kogi State where he was kidnapped two days ago.

    The development has thrown his Igbo-Eze North kinsmen into anxiety, especially as the abductors have placed N15 million ransom on him.

    His son, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senatorial aspirant for Enugu North, Mr. Chinedu Eya, who confirmed the incident, begged the kidnappers to free him.

    Eya, who said political colouration might not be ruled out, added it was unhealthy for anybody to introduce brigandage into Enugu politics.

    “Right now, I really feel pain as a man. I cried, because the old man cannot be suffering. He put his life on the line for some of us to survive. Now that he should be benefiting, somebody is coming to intimidate him.”

  • Kidnappers place N15m ransom on senatorial aspirant’s dad

    There is tension in Igbo-Eze North Local Government of Enugu State, following the abduction of a community leader, Chief Lawrence Chukwuemeka Eya, by suspected kidnappers.

    Eya, 68, was trailed to Kogi State where he was kidnapped two days ago.

    The development has thrown his Igbo-Eze North kinsmen into anxiety, especially as the abductors have placed N15 million ransom on him.

    His son, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senatorial aspirant for Enugu North, Mr. Chinedu Eya, who confirmed the incident, begged the kidnappers to free him.

    Eya, who said political colouration might not be ruled out, added it was unhealthy for anybody to introduce brigandage into Enugu politics.

    “Right now, I really feel pain as a man. I cried, because the old man cannot be suffering. He put his life on the line for some of us to survive. Now that he should be benefiting, somebody is coming to intimidate him.”

  • Police parade 34 suspected kidnappers, robbers in Imo

    The Imo State Police Command yesterday paraded 34 suspects for alleged kidnapping, murder, armed robbery, fraud, rape, conspiracy and theft.

    The suspects included members of a notorious gang that specialised in kidnapping, raping and killing girls after collecting ransom from victims’ families.

    The suspected leader of the gang, David Ndubuisi (24), from Umuneke village in Ngor-Okpala Local Government Area, confessed that the gang had abducted and murdered three girls of 20 to 28 years after raping them.

    Ndubuisi said he was arrested after his gang kidnapped Miss Cynthia Dike (28), who he said his gang members raped, killed and dumped in the forest.

    Also paraded was a five-man kidnap syndicate that abducted and murdered a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Mr. Amos Akano, of Nkwerre Local Government Area, after collecting N5 million ransom from the victim’s family.

    Parading the suspects at the command’s headquarters, Police Commissioner Dasuki Galandanchi said the community policing strategy adopted by the command was yielding results.

    The police chief noted that while 10 suspects were arrested for alleged robbery, 14 others were held for kidnapping and two for fraud.

    The command also rescued 11 kidnap victims, while items recovered from the suspects included four stolen vehicles, four locally-made guns and one pump action.

    Citing some achievements the command recorded within the period, Galandanchi said: “Through intelligence gathering, David Ndubuisi, 24, of Ngor Okpala Local Government Area of Imo State; Chinonso Akabisi, 26, of Isiala Mbano Local Government Area and Christian Chukwuka, 24, of Oguta Local Government Area, were arrested for involvement in the kidnapping of Cynthia Dike, of Ngor Okpala Local Government Area, on June 15.”

    The police chief said the suspects allegedly kidnapped the victim as she was returning from Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, and took her to their den in the forest, where they allegedly rape her for days before killing and dumping her naked body in the bush.

    He said: “One motorcycle, two knives, one purse, hand bags and handsets belonging to their victims were recovered from the suspects.”

    Galandanchi added that the suspects would soon be arraigned in court.

  • Soldiers arrest kidnappers in Aba

    •Victim rescued, guns recovered

    Soldiers attached to the 144 Battalion under the 14 Brigade headquarters of Nigerian Army in Ohafia, Abia State, have reportedly arrested three members of a kidnapping gang operating in Aba, the state’s commercial and its environs.

    The soldiers, our reporter gathered, also rescued a yet-to-be identified victim who was said to have been trapped inside the boot of the car driven by the gang.

    They were also said to have recovered a cache of ammunition and guns the hoodlums allegedly used for the operation.

    It was learnt that the incident, which occurred on the busy Waterside Bridge on the Aba-Ikot Ekpene Expressway, took passers-by by surprise. The victim was reportedly snatched after he left one of the new generation churches in Aba.

    Luck was said to have run out on the hoodlums when they were heading towards the outskirts of the commercial city and the soldiers, spurred by their hunch, asked the driver of the Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) to pull over.

    A source, who claimed to have witnessed the incident, said the resistance of the gang members to the soldiers caused a traffic gridlock.

    The soldiers were said to have called for reinforcement and forced the gang members out of the car.

    In the process, some of the suspected kidnappers were injured.

    After overpowering the gang, the soldiers reportedly forced the boot of the car open and saw the victim trapped in it.

    The victim was said to have been rescued and the suspected kidnappers whisked away.

    A source at the army battalion, who pleaded not to be mentioned, confirmed the incident.

    The source said the victim had been reunited with his family while the suspects were being interrogated.

    The soldiers pledged to make the outcome of their investigation public as soon as they conclude investigation into the matter.

     

  • Police arrest two ‘kidnappers’

    Operatives of the Inspector- Generalof Police’ (IG) Intelligence Response Team (IRT) yesterday evening arrested two suspected kidnappers in Lagos

    The suspects were said to belong to a gang terrorising Ikotun and environs.

    It was gathered that the operatives had been on the trail of the gang, whose members usually wore police or military uniforms and drove Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) with shielded number plates.

    A source told our correspondent that the suspects were trailed from NNPC Bus Stop in Ejigbo to Shasha, where they were picked up.

    He said: “The gang has been giving us serious problems. They usually covered their number plates as though it is a VIP that was in the vehicle so that they would not be stopped by security operatives.

    “We have been trailing them for some time and yesterday evening, we got information that they were somewhere around NNPC.

    “Our men moved to the area and we identified a Lexus Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) they were in. They followed the SUV from a comfortable distance but the suspects noticed they were being followed and they started speeding.

    “Fortunately, their vehicle fell inside a ditch at Shasha and our men got them. We searched their vehicle and recovered assorted charms and other items concealed in a carton. They were taken to the police station at Shasha but would be moved to the command because they are dangerous criminals.”

    Spokesman for the command, Chike Oti, a Superintendent (SP) could not be reached for comments at the time of filing this report.

  • Manhunt for kidnappers of three female students begins

    The Akwa Ibom Police Command has begun a manhunt for the abductors of three female students of Obong University,  Obong Ntak, Etim Ekpo Local Government Area of State.

    Witnesses said some hoodlums stormed the female hostel of the university in the early hours of Friday and abducted the students.

    The Police Public Relations Officer in Akwa Ibom, DSP Macdon Odiko, said the police rescued one of the female students who sustained injury during the raid.

    “One person was injured and she is the person rescued by the police. She is at present undergoing treatment in a hospital in the state.

    “The incident occurred about 2am on Friday within the female hostel. The hoodlums were about eight in number and the university security men were not armed.

    “And they came in from the bush as there is no perimeter fence around the school premises,” he said.

    The police spokesman said they were yet to effect any arrest in respect of the abduction, promising the command was doing everything possible to rescue the girls unhurt.

    However, the students on Friday morning embarked on a peaceful protest over the abduction of their colleagues.

    The vice chancellor Prof. Udoudo Ekanemesang, urged the students to remain calm.

    He also assured that the school authorities would ensure the students were rescued as soon as possible.