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Tag: kidnappers
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Kogi judge’s kidnappers arrested
The Kogi State Police Command said yesterday that it had killed Aliyu Isa, aka Osama, the leader of a gang, which kidnapped a High Court judge, Justice Samuel Obayomi.
It said it arrested other members of the gang.
The command said the late Osama was one of those, who escaped from the Koto-Karfe Prison during a jailbreak last year.
Police Commissioner Samuel Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi, who paraded 13 suspected criminals at the command headquarters in Lokoja, said Osama, who died during a crossfire, was out on a vengeance mission and recruited others to eliminate his targets.
He said some of Osama’s targets included a petrol marketer he worked with and the judge.
Ogunjemilusi said the deceased and his colleagues attacked the petrol marketer and his workers at a filling station and killed the manager and one of the workers.
He said a Barretta pistol found on Osama belonged to the late orderly of the judge, Cpl. Usman Isah, who was kidnapped.
The police boss added that the late Osama was one of those who escaped from jail where he was serving 10 and 15 years terms.
He said: “The deceased manager of the filling station and the corporal, before he was assigned to the judge, were key witness and investigation police officer in the case that led to the imprisonment of the late suspect.”
Ogunjemilusi added that the judge, who was kidnapped on May 25 and released on June 27, presided over the suspect’s case.
Also paraded was Bolaji Agbaje Williams, who claimed he was employed as a security guard at the cave where the High Court judge was kept for over three weeks.
Williams, who confessed that he joined the gang recently and was assigned to watch the victim, said he hailed from Ijebu Ode in Ogun State.
The command paraded a gang comprising Fulani herdsmen, which specialised in kidnapping fellow herdsmen.
The suspects, Idris Mohammed Jafaru, Shehu Haruna and Yunusa Ahmadu, confessed to having made over N1.5million from crimes.
The police commissioner said the suspects would be arraigned.
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Imo intensifies battle against kidnappers
The arrest of a dreaded kidnap suspect and his accomplices underscores increased efforts to root out outlaws in the state, reports OKODILI NDIDI
Kidnapping, a major challenge in the region, especially Imo and Anambra states, will soon be a thing of the past, pledged security chiefs in Imo after a meeting with the state governor Rochas Okorocha.
It was not the usual rhetoric of security agencies, which were often not backed with commensurate action. Already the Department of Security Service (DSS) has recorded a major breakthrough in the war against kidnapping with the arrest of a most wanted cross-border kidnap kingpin, 29-year-old Henry Chibueze, known in the underworld as Vampire.
His name, according to security sources, instills fear in the heart of families of victims who have heard stories of his vicious operations and often part with huge sums of money without informing security agents.
•The Hilux vans presented to the police to boost operations The efforts of the security agents to rid the state of the kidnappers and other undesirable elements has also been boosted by the state government with the donation of ten brand new Hilux Vans to aid their operations.
Governor Okorocha who described the arrest of the notorious kidnapper and members of his gang as a huge relief, stated that, “Imo has been under the siege of kidnappers, especially this dreaded Vampire, but today he is in security custody and we have to commend and encourage our security agents for the good job of ridding the state of all criminals. This criminal has been terrorising Imo State, where he has killed several people including a Commissioner with the Service Commission and many others.
“We have set up a combined task force that will henceforth track and apprehend kidnappers anywhere they are hiding in the state. The task force will also tackle the issue of cult activities in some parts of the state, especially in Ohaji-Egbema where cultists are killing innocent citizens. And we have warned hotel owners to verify the identity of the people they accommodate because any from now any hotel or building where a kidnapper is arrested will be pulled down”.
The DSS Director, Francis Ejiofor, confirmed that ‘Vampire” was responsible for series of kidnappings in neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Niger and Ivory Coast, where he resides.
According to Ejiofor, who paraded the suspect alongside other alleged members of his gang, before the state governor and journalists, disclosed that the suspect was arrested after an operation in the state.
He said that the victim of the last operation was released after the family paid N15 million as ransom.
In his words, “This suspect Mr. Henry Chibueze, known as Vampire, engages in kidnapping from Nigeria to Cotonou, Niger and Ivory Coast. He is a vicious kidnapper and kills his victim at the slightest suspicion that security operatives are on his trail. When he learnt that he was in the state and had kidnapped a woman we waited until he has collected the ransom and released the woman and we went after him.
“We traced him to a hotel close to Owerri where he was planning to kidnap the Tribunal Judges who were lodged there but our men stormed the place and he escaped with gunshot wounds to the home of his native doctor in Abia State where he was picked up. Another member of the gang who provides security cover for the gang is an Army deserter, Akeem Bello, who still uses his Identity Card to navigate security checkpoints.”
The DSS boss attributed the successful smashing of the notorious gang to the support of the state government, assuring that the Department will end incidents of kidnapping in the state in no distant time.
•The suspected chief kidnapper, Vampire The suspect, while providing gory details of his criminal activities in his five years of operation, said that he has lost count of how many victims he has killed because the family failed to pay up the ransom or delayed the payment.
He particularly recounted how he wiped out the entire family of his girl friend, who he said absconded with his N45 million.
In his words, “yes I killed my girlfriend and her parents because she stole my N45m I kept in my house. I went to her family house in Lagos and when she saw me coming she ran into the house I went in and shot her and other people in the house. She died instantly but I don’t know how others died.
”I started kidnapping business five years ago and I joined the business because my people did not train me. I am from Nwangele Local Government Area of Imo State. I have killed many people but I don’t want to be released now. I want to stay in custody for many years so that my brain will cool down. I live in Abidjan with my wife and only daughter. I don’t know if she is aware that I have been arrested because she does not know the kind of business that I do.”
But another member of the gang, Bello, who deserted the Army, in his confession, denied knowing that Vampire was a kidnapper.
“Yes, I am a soldier and I have not been dismissed. I ran away from Boko Haram in Borno State and I was using my car to do town service when I carried him one night; I didn’t know that he was a kidnapper until I was arrested.”
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DSS parades suspected kidnappers in Imo
The Department of State Services (DSS) has paraded a suspected cross-border kidnapper, Mr. Henry Chibueze, a.k.a Vampire, with his gang in Imo State. Chibueze is said to be responsible for the kidnappings in the Southeast, Southsouth and in neighbouring countries of Cameroun, Niger and Ivory Coast, where he resides.
Parading the suspects yesterday, DSS director Francis Ejiofor said ‘vampire’ was arrested after an operation where the victim’s family paid N15 million ransom for her release.
“Henry Chibueze, known as ‘vampire’, engages in kidnapping from Nigeria to Cotonou, Niger and Ivory Coast. He is a vicious kidnapper and he kills his victims at the slightest suspicion that security operatives are on his trail.
“When we heard he was in the state and had kidnapped a woman, we waited until he had collected the ransom and released the woman before going after him.
“We traced him to a hotel close to Owerri, where he planned to kidnap the tribunal judges who were lodged there, but our men stormed the place and he escaped with gunshot wounds to the home of his native doctor in Abia State, where he was picked up.
“Another member of the gang, Akeem Bello, who provides security, is an Army deserter. He uses his identity card to navigate security checkpoints,” Ejiofor said.
Vampire said he started the kidnapping business about five years back, boasting that he had lost count of how many victims he had killed.
He said he murdered his girlfriend and her entire family because she stole his N45 million.
“I killed my girlfriend and her parents because she stole my N45 million. I went to her family house in Lagos and when she saw me coming, she ran into the house. I went in and shot her and the other people in the house; she died instantly.
“I started kidnapping five years ago and I joined the business because my people did not train me. I am from Nwangele Local Government Area. I have killed many people but I don’t want to be released now; I want to stay in custody for many years so that my brain will cool down. I live in Abidjan with my wife and only daughter; I don’t know if she knows I have been arrested because she does not know the kind of business I do,” he said.
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Police arrest three suspected kidnappers
The Benue State Police Command has arrested three suspected kidnappers and rescued their victim, 70- year-old Atser Kyausu.
The septuagenarian is the father of a Makurdi-based oil mogul, Chief Athanisius Atser Kyausu.
A source said the abductors targeted the businessman, but because of the tight security around him, they went for his father, who lives in Vandeikya in Benue Northeast.
Briefing reporters when parading the suspects at the police headquarters yesterday, outgoing Police Commissioner Hyacinth Dagala said the gunmen, on July 25, came to the victim’s home in Vandikya and kidnapped him. He was then taken to an unknown destination.
The police boss said following a distress report, a crack squad of detectives from the headquarters swung into action and arrested the suspected kidnappers in a forest in Vandeikya.
He said the abductors took their victims on a motorcycle after forcefully collecting N770,000 from him.
Dagala said they conveyed him on a motorcycle to the forest and phoned his son, demanding N200million ransom.
He said the kidnappers were unlucky, as the police stormed the forest and arrested three of them, while others escaped.
Those arrested are Terfa Terkuma, Kwaghfan Apeaka and Aondona, all of Vandikya.
The victim’s son, Chief Kyausu, told reporters that he was happy that his father was rescued.
He hailed the police for doing a good job, saying he did not pay ransom.
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Police parade four suspected kidnappers in Ilorin
THE Kwara State Police Command yesterday paraded four persons for alleged kidnapping in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.
It said the suspects had allegedly been kidnapping people at Omu-Aran in Irepodun Local Government.
The suspects are Musa Kadir, Isah Salihu, Suleiman Abubakar and Abdullahi Babatunde, all of Rore village.
Police spokesman Ajayi Okasanmi said the suspected kidnappers were arrested after they abducted a Sarikin Fulani, Aliyu Harande, at Omu-Aran.
He said the victim was kidnapped while praying in a mosque behind his home.
Okasanmi added that the suspects were arrested by the command’s anti-kidnapping team, which he said, swung into action after a tip-off on the incident.
He said the suspects, from whom the police recovered a vehicle and guns, allegedly confessed to have been responsible for kidnappings at Omu-Aran.
The police spokesman said the case was still under investigation, as efforts were on to arrest the leader of the gang.
He said three suspected cult members were arrested at Oke-Oyi on the outskirts of Ilorin.
According to him, the suspects, whom he described as members of the Eiye confraternity, were nabbed when they were forcefully initiating members. Items, such as an axe, relics and charms were recovered from them.
Okasanmi said the police also arrested five suspects in connection with armed robberies at Gaa-Akanbi and Amayo Ganmo in Ilorin.
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Police parade four suspected kidnappers in Ilorin
Kwara state police command Thursday paraded four persons for alleged kidnapping in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital.
The command said the four have allegedly been kidnapping people in Omu-Aran in Irepodun local government area of the state.
The suspects are Musa Kadir, Isah Salihu, Suleiman Abubakar and Abdullahi Babatunde all of Rore village of Kwara state.
Briefing reporters, spokesperson of the command, Ajayi Okasanmi (ASP) said the alleged kidnappers were arrested after they kidnapped a Sarikin Fulani, Aliyu Harande in Omu-Aran town.
Mr. Okasanmi said the victim was kidnapped while praying in a mosque behind his house in the town.
He added that the suspects were arrested by the command’s anti-kidnapping team whom he said swung into action after the receipt of the report of the kidnap.
He explained that the suspects from whom he disclosed the Police recovered a vehicle and guns allegedly confessed to have been responsible for kidnap cases around Omu-Aran axis.
Okasanmi said the case was still under investigation as efforts were still on to arrest the leader of the syndicate whom he said was still at large.
The Police spokesman also disclosed arrest of three suspected cult members at Oke-Oyi area on the outskirts of Ilorin.
He said the suspects whom he described as members of Eiye confraternity were rounded up when they were forcefully initiating some potential while items such as an axe, Eiye cult relics and criminal charms were recovered from them.
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Special court for kidnappers, cultists in Imo
As part of measures to curb the rising incidence of kidnapping and cultism, Imo State is to set up a special court to try cultism and kidnapping cases.
Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Acho Ihim said that the court when inaugurated would ensure that suspected kidnappers and cultists are treated according to the dictates of the law.
The Speaker, who made the disclosure after a joint security meeting, said that other conventional courts in the state will be renovated.
In a related development, the state government also inaugurated a committee to decongest the prisons in the state.
The committee made up of the Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere and the Chief Judge of the State, justice Paschal Nnadi, was mandated to visit the prisons and liaise with the authorities on how to decongest the prisons. .
He said that the council also resolved to find a lasting solution to the lingering strike action embarked upon by the workers of Federal Medical Center Owerri ; adding that the state government will have meeting with the union of the hospital to find a lasting solution.
Chief Ejiogu also appealed to Imo indigenes to always ensure that their gutters/drainages are kept clean as the state would be experiencing heavy down pour as forecast by Nigeria meteorological agency (NIM).
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How keke NAPEP is aiding kidnappers, robbers in Delta
The death of motorcycles as means of transport in some parts of Delta state was quickened when it became the choice means of transportation for armed robbers and other criminals who were using them for robbery and other nefarious crimes.
It was against this background that the decision of then Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan to ban okada, as it is popularly called, was greeted with cheers from across the state. The support the ban received was not just due to numerous accidents associated with the two-legged means of transportation, but because of the relief from hoodlums and petty robbers.
However, three years, its successor the tricycle popularly called keke, has again become an easy and convenience transportation facility for criminals in the university town of Abraka, Warri, Udu, Uvwie and other parts of the state.Our investigation, which is corroborated by police sources, revealed that kidnappers and their cohorts are taking advantage of tricycle for their nefarious activities. Gangs that specialize in attacking customers coming out of banks, car snatching syndicates and others use keke, obviously because it is common place and because it is easy to ‘disappear’ with.
Scores of stolen keke have been recovered by the police across the state and angry mob have set several on fire when robbers abandon them as they did along Sokoh Estate Road in Effurun recently.
Several months ago, Mr Ewoma Okpokpor was robbed, by hoodlums who rode in a keke. The maroon Toyota Corolla car they snatched from him, GSM handsets and cash are yet to be found.
In Ovwian, Udu Local Government Area of the state, a 55-year-old staff of the Unified Payment Services (names withheld), was last Wednesday abducted. The male victim was holidaying in the area, when he was abducted by hoodlums at a bad spot along the Orhumworun road area.
“The criminals were probably working in league with some keke riders,” a police source at the Quick Response Squad in the state told our reporter.
“What we have found out is that the criminal keke operators mingle with genuine ones at strategic junctions, usually around Mofor Junction and the DSC Steel Camp area, while their accomplices and colleagues lay ambush at any of the bad spots along the road.
“When they see a flashy car, they would relay the details via GSM phones to the team ahead, giving them information like the type of car, the number of occupants etc. So, before the victim reaches the bad spots they are already waiting to pounce. If the sentries sight a police team they also brief their colleagues using terms like kpokpo or ikelebe
Our source said that was ostensibly how the kidnappers of the UPS staff abducted around the notorious Celestial Church area on the DSC Expressway, Orhunwhorun.
The hoodlums made away with his Black Toyota Highlander SUV, GSM phones, cash and four ATM cards, with which they withdrew N200,000 after forcing him to divulge the PINs. “Before they went to the bank, they reached an agreement with him that if any of the PIN was found to be incorrect, they would come back and finish him off.”
A QRS team, led by an Assistant Superintendent of Police simply identified as Omonigho, rescued him from the bush, several hours later. He told the police that he was taken to the hoodlums hideout with two tricycles conveying other members of the gang in tow.
At the hideout, he was chained and locked with padlock, while the hoodlums retired to a well-laid bed complete with mosquito net and other conveniences.
His car was yet to be found at the time of this report on Tuesday.
Police Public Relations Officer in the State command, DSP Celestina Kalu, who confirmed the report, vowed that the police would track hoodlums terrorizing the state and bring them to their knees.
Meanwhile, it was learnt that the Police Command is also having sleepless nights over the sources of locally manufactured firearms that are being used by hoodlums to terrorise residents of the state.
It was gathered that the Quick Response Squad, which is special unit based in in Warri, is investigating the source of locally made double- and single-barrel guns, after a rash of arrest and confiscation of such weapons.
A reliable source in the top echelon of the command told our reporter that the squad is worried that despite spirited efforts and feats recorded in the past months, more of the firearms are still being seized from the criminals, who mostly operated in keke.
Our source said: “We are very worried because over the past months and weeks we have arrested several criminals with locally manufactured cut-to-size barrel guns yet more Awka (local) guns keep surfacing in Warri and environs.
“As much as we are working round-the-clock under the supervision of the OC (Officer in Charge) of QRS and the Area Commander, we have not been able to locate the source of these weapons. We know that once we get the source of these weapons crime rate will reduce in the state,” the usually reliable source added.
It was further gathered that more worrying for the police is that none of about 100 suspects so far arrested across the state with the weapons have been able to provide useful information about the source.
“When we investigate them, they always say they got it from someone who also got it from another person and the line is endless, yet we know that the manufacturers are either in the state or nearby.
“We are appealing to members of the public to provide useful information that can enable the police track down and cut off the source of these illegal weapons, because not until we are able to get to the source, our efforts would be futile.”
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Police kill 3 Kidnappers in Rivers
The Police have killed three suspected kidnappers in Port Harcourt the Rivers state capital.
The command’s spokesman, Ahmed k. Mohammed in a statement in Port Harcourt Wednesday said the kidnappers were killed at about 9:30 pm Tuesday night while trying to abduct their victim at the gates of his residence in Port Harcourt.
The police also said they arrested a member of three-man robbery gang in Port Harcourt, and recovered a vehicle and the sum of N2, 350 million among other items.
Mohammed said the attempted kidnap victim; Richard Otu was safely rescued in the process.
The PPRO said, “on July 6, 2015, at about 9:30 pm, policemen responding to distress call pursued and engaged suspected kidnappers who abducted one Richard Otu in his Toyata Highlanders jeep while entering his house along East-West road, Port Harcourt.
“Three of the suspected kidnappers got fatally injured during the encounter while the victim and his vehicle were safely rescued. Items recovered from the suspects include one AK 47 rifle, one magazine, five 7.62mm live ammunition, one locally made pistol and one dane gun.”
