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Tag: kidnappers

  • Delta tackles kidnappers

    I know kidnapping won’t stop like that. But as the government has started crushing their dens, anyone that allows his house to be used for kidnapping activities knows the house will be demolished

    THERESA did not imagine what would befall her as she drove her grey coloured Honda CRV around Aladja, Delta State, early this year. In a twinkle of an eye, she was abducted by a gang that swooped on her. And save for the timely interception of a team of anti-crime patrol duty policemen from the Abraka Division, her family and friends would have had to look for ransom to set her free.

    Following a radio message from the police control, the police were able to prevent the kidnap. Such was not the case for many kidnap victims in the state.

    Had the kidnappers been successful, they would have opened a channel of communication, usually by the mobile telephone, with a victim’s loved one. Bargaining, logistics, grief, pains, fear, and exchange of money would follow.

    While kidnapping has become a plague in the country, the situation in Delta State has become very worrisome. In a recent statement by the Delta State Commissioner of Police, 139 armed robbers and kidnappers were arrested between January and April 2013, while 29 were killed in action. And while 36 kidnapped victims were rescued by the Delta State Police Command, a lot more kidnap victims met other fate.

    Notoriously known as the state with the highest number of kidnappings, the fear of kidnapping is very rife in Delta State. Company executives, top government officials and all rich men go about with armed security guards. They are prime targets.

    “A lot of people are being kidnapped every day,” said George (not real name). “The kidnappers can catch anybody and when they demand for ransom, what goes on is like bargaining. I know someone that when he was kidnapped, the kidnappers asked for five million naira. At the end of the day, when the person’s family couldn’t raise that sum, they collected N200, 000 and freed him.”

    And one place fingered as harbouring the majority of the kidnappers is Urhoboland. According to a victim who was kidnapped on the outskirts of Benin City in Edo State, he could hear the people in the village where he was kept conversing in Urhobo. “I heard the elders discuss; I heard children talk as they passed and walked to school. I cannot speak the language, but I recognise, it very well.” she said.

    Onoriode Sunday Eromedoghene, the chairman of the Ethiope-East Local Government Area, where Kokori is situated, confirmed this trend. “It is true that the state of kidnapping is alarming,” he said. “But, the traditional rulers are in the best position to talk about it.”

    Perhaps, it is to acknowledge the fact that these kidnappers are not ghosts that informed the decision of the administration of Governor Emmanual Uduaghan not to hand over a staff of office to a newly installed monarch in the state till his community is able to hand over Kelvin Oniarah. Oniarah is said to be the suspected kingpin of the kidnappers. Though, they said he rarely comes around the town, he is reputed to possess spiritual powers from a shrine to make him ‘disappear.’ According to a statement from the Delta State Commissioner of Police, Ikechukwu Aduba, Kokori, a town in Ethiope-East Local Government Area, harbours Kelvin Oniarah, the most wanted suspected kidnapper. The fair-skinned 25-year old man is said to head a notorious gang responsible for over 30 kidnapping and robbery operations across the state. So notorious is he that the Delta State Police Command has declared Kelvin, as he is popularly called, wanted. But Kelvin remains at large.

    Currently, along many roads in the hinterlands, it is not strange to find security posts manned by fierce-looking army personnel and mobile policemen. Cars are inspected and okada (commercial motorcycles) have been banned from operating in Kokori, Isiokolo, Okpara, Eku and Abraka – towns in the Ethiope-East Local Government Area. The commercial motorcycles had earlier been banned in Asaba, the state capital, and Warri. And in a bid to crush the kidnappers, the Delta State Police Command with the backing of the Delta State government, has been demolishing identified operational bases where kidnappers keep innocent citizens. So far, about seven buildings have been destroyed. Kelvin’s father’s house was among those destroyed.

    A house was demolished at Orogun where the Accountant of the Delta State University, Abraka was held; another one at Ozoro where Major Gen. Peter Onode (rtd) was held was demolished; a house at Kokori and another one in Warri, where a female victim was held, were also pulled down.

    While a section of people in these communities adores these kingpins and sees them as messiahs because of the cash they dole out regularly, another section dreads them. Either way, members of these communities do not squeal, either from being beneficiaries of the kidnappers’ largesse or from fear. According to a resident of Samagidi, a town close to Kokori, who would not reveal his name, anyone that loves his life dare not report them. “You just look and go on your own,” he said. “They have informants everywhere. Anytime, security vans or strange people enter the community, they have people who inform them. And they are always never caught. But, people around here know them.”

    And while for many people, the fear of kidnappers is potent, the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Lucky Uyabeme, believes that the tide of kidnapping is on the decrease.

    But there is still a disturbing case. That is the matter of Dr. Mercy Mukoubia, a lecturer in the Science Education Department of the Delta State University, Abraka. Kidnapped from her bedroom in Obiaruku in April, she has not been seen since then. An attempt to rescue her after a N1.2 million ransom was dropped at Ozoro was botched. An accomplice was shot and others were arrested. Uyabeme says the case “is something of a mystery.”

    And three weeks ago, the wife of the traditional ruler of Ughelli Kingdom, was kidnapped when she went to register for her courses at the Delta State University, Abraka. She was rescued by the police who also demolished the building where she was kept. The Delta State University administration is worried over this trend as lecturers and their relations have become targets.

    In May, the Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Abraka branch, Dr. Emmanuel Mordi, complained to the Commissioner of Police, Ikechukwu Aduba, that at least 20 lecturers and their relations had been kidnapped in the last two years.

    A retired staff of the Delta State University, Abraka believes that the government’s move to destroy any building used as a kidnappers’ base would serve as deterrence.

    He said: “I know kidnapping won’t stop like that. But as the government has started crushing their dens, anyone that allows his house to be used for kidnapping activities knows the house will be demolished.”

    As the war goes on, it is no doubt that the state government together with the security personnel are determined to flush out criminals. This move of demolishing kidnappers’ dens has recently been adopted by the Edo State government.

  • JTF arrests ‘kidnappers’, ‘cultists’

    Troops from the Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta in Koko and Sapele, Delta State, have arrested illegal bunkerers, kidnappers and cultists.

    The arrests were made during series of military operations by the 19 Battalion based in Koko, Warri North Local Government.

    Among those arrested were members of a six-man gang of kidnappers fingered for the abduction of a former worker of Chevron Nigeria Limited, Austin Eyen.

    Eyen was rescued in Sapele during a botched move to pick up N50 million ransom from the family of their victim.

    The Commanding Officer of the 19 Battalion, Lt. Col Frank Etim, who paraded the suspects yesterday, said they were traced to a shrine in a forest at Oviri-Court.

    Lt. Col Etim said the suspects were overpowered after a gunbattle with his men, adding that a shrine where a juju priest prepared charms to fortify them against bullets was destroyed.

    In a related development, 11 secondary school pupils aged between 15 – 17 years old were arrested by JTF troops on suspicion of being informants to criminal gangs terrorising residents of Sapele and Elume.

    But the suspects said they are members of three cult groups in the area –Cage Bird, Blue Sparrow and Dan Sailor.

    A middle-aged school dropout was also arrested on suspicion of training the youths.

    Lt Col Etim said two suspects were also arrested with a truck with registration number Edo EXP 223 XA loaded with 45 drums of product suspected to be illegally refined automotive gas oil (AGO).

    Similarly, he said two suspected illegal bunkerers were also arrested at Jesse in Ethiope West Local Government.

    They were arrested with a Volvo car with registration number Delta AM 475 SAP, which was carrying 900 litres empty jerry cans, which were taken to an illegal loading point in Jesse.

     

  • Granting amnesty to kidnappers

    Granting amnesty to kidnappers

    Nigeria is a blessed nation. Its people are unbelievable. Its leaders are ingenious. Quite very ingenious leaders! From the late Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa to the incumbent Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, our leaders have been incredible. Take, for instance, the late President Umar Sheu Yaradua. He met on ground a delicate situation in the oil rich Niger- Delta, which, if not well managed, could have torn the nation apart. Niger Delta youths were angry. Perhaps, reasonably so. They felt they were not getting a fair share of the natural resources which nature has endowed their land with. Consequently, they resorted to militancy to draw the attention of appropriate authorities to their grievances. Thus, began an era of sorrow, tears and blood in the Niger Delta. It was so bad that estimated national revenue from oil started to dwindle since expatriates working in the various oil fields across the region had to flee for fear of the rampaging militants. Sadly, as much as the various security agencies tried, they were no match for the excessively aggressive and determined Niger-Delta militants.

    This was, indeed, the situation when the late President Yaradua came into the picture. Widely acclaimed as the very first graduate president to rule over the country, Yaradua did not disappoint. The scientist that he was, he took the Niger-Delta problem to the laboratory and after series of experiments; he eventually came out with a very innovative result which gave birth to the now famous amnesty programme. The core feature of the programme is for militants, who are willing to embrace the Federal Government olive branch to surrender their weapons, within a certain period of time, in exchange for official state pardon.

    Oh, how it worked like magic! Soon, Aso Rock became a Mecca of sort with several leaders of the various militant groups visiting the villa to pay homage to Yaradua as well as pledged their loyalty to the new amnesty arrangement. In a twinkling of an eye, peace returned to the once volatile Niger Delta region. Of course, it has to be. The leaders of the various militant groups secured diverse mouth-watering deals with the Federal Government while some of their foot soldiers were sent to various schools abroad to acquire quality education aside from being put on good monthly salary packages. Thus, while the oil czars smile to the bank, the militants also have their own share of the proverbial national cake. The end result is that everybody is happy.

    Lucky President Goodluck! At the demise of his late Principal, Yaradua, he inherited a peaceful Niger Delta. But, as it is with leadership; he was soon to face his own challenge through the activities of the Islamic insurgence group popularly referred to as Boko Haram. The group, which had been in existence before the Goodluck presidency, for reasons best known to it, chose the occasion of the Jonathan presidency to demonstrate to Nigerians that it could be as daring ( if not more ) as the Niger Delta Militants. Till date, the group has continued to hold the northern part of the country hostage with its numerous acts of terrorism which have led to loss of countless human lives in addition to destruction of limitless private and public properties. The economy of most of the affected northern states, no thanks to Boko Haram activities, is now in shamble.

    Like his late principal, President Goodluck Jonathan is a scientist. Perhaps, a better one at that, considering he holds Ph.D degree in zoology. Many, understandably so, looked forward to the President coming up with his own version of another scientific solution to the Boko Haram crisis which has now led to the inglorious exit of many top security officials from office. With the President keeping his battle strategy against the Islamic sect tight to his chest, prominent northern figures began to agitate for the adoption of the now tested and trusted amnesty option to ward off the Boko Haram challenge. Soon, powerful individuals began to put pressure on the presidency to enter into dialogue with the group for the sake of peace.

    But the President would have none of that. How do you dialogue with a faceless group? He wondered. On an unusual visit to Maiduguri, a city that is perhaps the worst hit in the Boko Haram onslaught, the President foreclosed entering into dialogue with the group by reiterating his earlier held view that it is a group without identity. However, prominent leaders continue to canvass for amnesty with the revered Sultan of Sokoto adding his respected voice to the call. With time, the Federal Government shifted its position on the issue. A committee, as it is always the case, comprising eminent Nigerians, has been put in place to fashion out strategies that would bring about engagement with the Boko Haram. Most analysts see this step as a prelude to the process that will lead to granting amnesty to the Boko Haram group. To those who support this plan, if amnesty is working wonders in the Niger Delta, it should bring about the much needed peace in the crisis- ridden northern states.

    Now, as we contemplate granting amnesty to the Boko Haram group, there is another major dissident group in the country that one would like to draw the attention of appropriate authorities and other powerful individuals to. Like the Niger-Delta militants and the Boko Haram, this group is equally angry with the country. They are angry that government has not been able to solve the problem of unemployment. Their anger also stems from wide spread corruption that has continued un-abated in the system coupled with other social ills bedevilling the nation. But unlike the Niger-Delta militants and Boko Haram, their operational style is different. It is not really violent in outlook. They just look out for cash worthy individuals who could be kidnapped, for some time, in exchange for handsome sum of money and the circle continues. Welcome to the world of kidnappers!

    As it was the case with the Niger-Delta militants and the Boko-Haram, government is yet to come up with the much needed solution to tackle the activities of kidnappers across the country. But, why look for another solution when we already have one that is working well? Is it not true that you don’t change a winning formula? To stem the tide of kidnapping in the country, we need to begin the process that will bring up a national discourse on the need to grant amnesty to kidnappers. Respected traditional monarchs, politicians and other powerful individuals across the country should begin to bring the issue to the front burner. The press should, as well, echo it. Kidnappers, on their own, need to form themselves into one powerful association with functioning web site and other channels of modern communication since the government is averse to discussing with faceless groups.

    Before we all become victims of the dastardly act of kidnapping, government should begin to give serious consideration to granting amnesty to kidnappers whose main grouse is joblessness. Like the Niger-Delta militant, they could be sent to good universities abroad and equally place on mouth-watering monthly salaries. As it is often said, no development can take placed without peace. If we are to achieve the much needed national development, we should begin the process of granting amnesty to kidnappers now. Lest I forget, we could also extend the amnesty arrangement to other aggrieved members of the society such as armed robbers, rapists, pipe line vandals, 419ers among others. We must not spare anything in our quest for a peaceful society. This way, our overstretched security agencies would have a break and we shall all live in peace. God bless Nigeria!

    Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

     

  • Kidnappers demand $1m to free Lagos council chairman

    Kidnappers demand $1m to free Lagos council chairman

    All was gloomy yesterday at house 21, Ona Iwa Mimo Street in Ejigbo, a Lagos suburb.

    Mrs. Fatimo Bamigbetan, the wife of the Chairman of Ejigbo Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan, sat in silence. Surrounding her were several women who had formed several mini groups and were engaged in hush conversations. The white shawl that covered her head gave her a dignified look despite the sadness in her eyes.

    It was difficult to know what was on her mind. When she replied to a greeting, the words came out just a little above a whisper. Her husband was kidnapped Monday night.

    The house was furnished with the greatest simplicity; many could not find seats and they contended themselves with standing, arms akimbo.

    In the ante room, several women were in varying moods of distress. A woman, sparse of frame, cursed endlessly at some unseen enemies.

    Mr. Dele Alake, a former Lagos State Commission for Information, came in. His eyes displayed surprise and shock. He had come to express his sympathy with Mrs. Bamigbetan.

    It was like an action-packed Hollywood movie – guns booming, a vehicle ramming into a tree and confusion all over. When it was over, KehindeBamigbetan, had been abducted, his driver sustained injury and his wife distraught.

    There were many questions that remained unanswered even as the family and the police tried to put the matter into perspective. What was the motive for the kidnap of a public official? Why did the abductors wait until he was 50 meters from his home before snatching him?

    The last person to see Bamigbetan was his driver, AbiodunOlayiwola, who narrowly escaped with his life.

    According to AdewunmiAdesanya, Bamigbetan Personal Assistant on Political Matters, the abducted chairman left the local government secretariat on Egbe-Isolo road around 8pm. “ We were together till 8pm when he left, saying he wanted to go out. That was the last time I saw him,” Adesanya said.

    Bamigbetan was said to have visited Alake’s office but his would-be host had left. He then went to Bourdillon Road where he spent some minutes at the home of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, before making his way home.

    Olayiwola recounted the abduction. He said: “We were inside the street already. When we got to the puddle of water; I suddenly saw a car blocking me. I was wondering why the driver was driving roughly when two people jumped down; one at the front and the other at the back. They stood in front of the vehicle.

    “My boss was at the back; he was making a call. Before I could think, I heard rapid gunfire. ‘What! I screamed and immediately put the car in reverse to escape. The shooting continued and my boss bent down at the back. I was careful so as not to be hit by the bullet. In my effort to escape, I hit an electricity pole and the car stopped.

    “ I got down and shouted to my boss to get down too. That was how I escaped, but by the time I got back, they had taken my boss and his laptop. Please, help me find my boss,” Olayiwola said.

    The gunmen continued to fire at the fleeing Olayiwola. The sound was loud and scary. He was wounded in his left hand. “ Icant even remember how the wound came to be,” he said.

    But there are other versions of the story. According to the Secretary to the Local Government Remi Gbadegeshin, the events that led to the abduction was well choreographed.

    Gbadegeshin said the kidnappers had earlier abducted a man before Bamigbetan was taken on EniIwaMimo Street. After his abduction, the first man was released.

    Bamigbetan was allowed to call his wife at 4: am yesterday. He also disclosed that the abductors demanded $1,000,000 (One million Dollars) as ransom.

    Negotiations were ongoing yesterday, it was learnt.

    ACN chieftains began to arrive at the Bamigbetan’s home early yesterday. Alake he was “shocked beyond words”.

    He lamented the increasing level of insecurity in the country, which has led to the kidnap of a public official.

    “ They must have put him under surveillance; maybe for a week,” Alake said and many in the house agreed with him. He assured the wife that her husband would be found. He then asked for prayers. The crowd prayed hard and long. The woman, who had engaged in cursing, prayed the hardest. The people prayed for mercy and favour for the abducted chairman .

    Other dignitaries came in. Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs AdemorinKuye also decried the security situation in the country, but spoke with much assurance that the government was on top of the situation.

    “This government will not condone any act that will put this nation into chaos. His Excellency has put measures in place to ensure his safe return,” Kuye said.

    Mrs. Bamigbetan’s mobile phone rang incessantly. Most of the time she excused herself to receive the calls. Her son, not more than five years, walked into the living room. Most of the women fell over themselves to show him excess kindness. He asked for his mother and when he did not find her, he ran upstairs – playfully.

    At the local government secretariat, the mood of the workers was pensive, with many discussing the incident in groups.

    “Maybe this will teach him a lesson to always use his security details. Oga will be going around without his security, that’s him for you, we have complained but he will not listen,” said one of his aides.

    On Bamigbetan’s street, some of the residents said they were shocked by the news of the abduction. They described Bamigbetan as a gentleman who has done a lot for the local government. “ He is a man of the people; you can even see from his house that it’s not different from many here,” one of the residents said.

    Other sympathisers that visited the family include Akeem Munir, a Federal lawmaker representing Isolo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Musin Local Government Chairman Babatunde Adepitan, Egbe Idimu LCDA Chairman Waheed Adebayo and his Odi-Olowo counterpart, Yemi Ali.

    The family was still trying to put together the sequence of events. It was agreed that the abductors waited for him close to his house. But the abduction of a man earlier that night has thrown an interesting permutation into the story. A council official confirmed the man is now in the custody of the police. It was unknown if he was part of the plan or Bamigbetan was just unlucky to have been at the wrong place at the wrong time.

     

  • Suspected kidnappers use Abati’s name to lure Igbo youths to Abuja

    Suspected kidnappers use Abati’s name to lure Igbo youths to Abuja

    Twelve Igbo youth leaders lured into Abuja by kidnappers who disguised as Special Adviser to the President on Media Dr. Reuben Abati, relived their ordeal yesterday.

    The National Secetary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youths, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, who led the group to the journey, told our reporter: “ The circumstances that led to the incident are bizarre and shocking. Somebody who claimed to be Dr Reuben Abati, Special Adviser to Mr President on Media, invited us to meet with Mr President on Thursday April 11, by 4.00pm.

    “The so-called Reuben Abati purported that Mr President wished to dialogue with Igbo youth leaders having done so with the Arewa and Yoruba youth leaders . We travelled to Abuja on Wednesday April 10, after clearing with some of our elders.

    “In Abuja , the representatives of the so-called Abati lodged us in a hotel at Gwagwalada. In the morning of Thursday April 11, three vehicles came to the hotel to purportedly take the youths leaders to Aso Rock. But instead of heading for the Villa, the vehicles sped off to Suleja.”

    The youth leaders, he said, querried the driver on the destination and argument ensued between them and their “captors” along the way.

    While the argument was on, they ran into security men at a checkpoint.

    “Rather than stop, the drivers veered off into the bush and abandoned us and the vehicles. We had to trek back to the checkpoint and narrated our ordeal to the security agents,” said Isiguzoro.

    The security men went into the bush where they recovered and towed the vehicles to their base. The police in Abuja, according to Isiguzoro, are investigating the incident.

    “Nobody knows the intentions of the so-called ‘Reuben Abati’ but it is suspected that it was a set up to wipe out some Igbo youth leaders.

    The real Reuben Abati should take up the matter immediately as what happened showed that some people have been impersonating him,” the youth leaders said.

    Dr. Abati said last night. “They have been doing that. I tell people to report to the police. Even last year, a man was convicted for using my name to get a job. The man said he was desperate. People open twitter accounts, bank accounts in my name. The public should be vigilant. I’m not the only person; they do it to many people in government.

    “I don’t do contracts; I’m an intellectual and I don’t invite people to see the President.

    “God has exposed these people who want to tarnish my hard earned reputation.

  • Abducted journalist: Kidnappers demand N6m ransom

    Abductors of a journalist and nursing mother, Mrs Olubunmi Oke, a staff of the Nigeria Television Authority, kidnapped in Akure, are asking for N6 million ransom. They initially asked for N15 million. The family has, however, been unable to raise the money.

    Women journalists under the aegis of Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) are therefore, seeking uncon-ditional release of their kidnapped colleague.

    In a statement released yesterday and signed by NAWOJ chairman, Ondo State Chapter, Mrs Olutope Ayo Fashuyi, the association said the kidnapped member, Mrs Olubunmi Oke, a staff of Nigeria Television Authourity, Akure, was abducted by unknown gunmen,while returning home after casting the 7 o’ clock news.

    She was abducted around 11pm, Thursday night.

    Her colleagues got wind of the incident on Friday. “We passionately appeal to these people that Mrs Oke be released, being a nursing mother to enable her attend to her baby. NAWOJ equally calls on the security agencies in the country to do all they can to ensure her quick release in order for her to breast-feed her baby,” said Fashuyi.

     

  • Students attack suspected kidnappers

    : Brutalised victim rescued

    Save for prompt intervention of students, a graduate of the Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUT MINNA), identified as Innocent, would have been a dead man. Innocent was rescued from a mob, which wanted to lynch him after he was accused for theft by suspected kidnappers.

    The incident happened last Friday at the main gate of the institution. It was gathered that Innocent was walking alone on Bosso Street on the fateful day. A few meters to the school gate, he was accosted by a group of boys, who were suspected to be kidnappers. Unknown to Innocent, who attended to the strangers, he was being led to a dangerous fate.

    But when he observed a strange move from the boys, he tried to leave the scene but was prevented by the gang. The suspects accused Innocent of using juju to remove the manhood of one of them. They shouted “thief” and drew the attention of the passersby to the scene. Innocent was immediately attacked by the mob and was being forced into the vehicle of the suspects.

    Students, who identified the victim, rushed to the scene to rescue Innocent from the mob action. It was later confirmed that he was wrongly accused. This drew the wrath of students, who descended on the suspects before the university’s security operatives moved to the scene to rescue them.

    However, students staged a protest, calling on the security men to release the suspects to them. The crowd of students grew uncontrollably. They were chanting “justice and penalty”.

    When the security officials discovered the growing crowd of students, they moved the suspects to the former Senate building in Bosso campus, where they were locked while waiting for the police. The students, who had surrounded the Senate building, were not deterred; they remained on the spot till 11pm.

    At 1:30am, medical personnel from the school clinic were invited to examine Innocent, who was complaining of internal pains as a result of the beating he received from the suspects.

    Efforts of the Students’ Union Government (SUG) president, Taiye Hassan, 500-Level Electrical Engineering, and the Bosso Divisional Police Officer (DPO) to disperse the crowd did not yield any result as the adamant crowd demanded to hand out “justice” to the suspected kidnappers.

    Around 2am on Saturday, the enraged students agreed to leave the scene but demanded justice for the attacked ex-student. They urged the police not let the suspects go unpunished.

    The SUG president assured the students that they would be kept abreast of development as regards the prosecution of the suspects. The DPO expressed his profound gratitude to the students for their cooperation and unified efforts to seeing that justice was done.

     

  • Kidnappers free Indian hostages

    FIVE Indian sailors kidnapped over a month ago in the Niger Delta have been released by their abductors.

    The sailors were seized on December 17 by pirates who stormed their ship, the SP Brussels, about 64 kilometers off the coast of the Niger Delta.

    The men were in good health after their release and received medical check-ups before being flown back to India, according to Martin Baxendale, spokesman for the ship’s operator, Medallion Marine.

    “Medallion Marine wishes to express their admiration for the crew and their families who have shown great courage and fortitude throughout this very difficult situation,” Baxendale.

    He declined to comment on the exact circumstances of the sailors’ release.

  • Police arrest suspected kidnappers of Nkiru Sylvanus

    The Imo State Police Command yesterday said it has arrested four suspects, who played key roles in the abduction of Nollywood actress and Senior Special Assistant to the Imo State Governor on Public Affairs, Miss Nkiru Sylvanus.

    Police Commissioner Adisa Bolanta spoke at the police headquarters in Owerri, the state capital.

    He said the state is now a graveyard for kidnappers and other criminals.

    The command paraded 20 other suspects, who were arrested for alleged armed robbery, kidnapping and arson.

    It also paraded four suspects for the abduction of a four-year-old daughter of Imo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Publicity Secretary, Mr Blyden Amajirionwu.

    The kidnappers reportedly abducted her from her parents’ home at the Uratta Housing Estate, Owerri North Local Government.

    Bolanta said three police teams were on the trail for Nkiru’s kidnappers.

    The police chief said the teams arrested the four suspects – Okoro Basil, Stella Opara, Festus Olegeme and Chijioke Chima – in their hideout at Imerienwe, Ngor Okpalla Local Government.

    He said the suspects have confessed to being the collaborators to the kidnappers.

    According to him, the suspects named Chinedu Okoro (aka Mopol), Ifeanyi Onyekwe (aka Alaye), Ezekwem Onyekwe and Ifeanyi (surname held) as the kidnappers of the Nollywood actress.

    Bolanta said: “Since the kidnappers have been identified by the police, there have been repeated visits to their homes and hideout to arrest them.”

    The police chief also said following the information Amajirionwu gave the police, two suspects – Tochukwu Ekeh, a cripple and Ngozi Ihemba – were arrested.

    He said another suspect escaped with bullet wounds during an exchange of gun fire.

    The police also rescued a 78 year-old-woman, Mrs Christiana Okeke, from kidnappers.

     

  • Three suspected kidnappers nabbed

    Three armed robbery and kidnap suspects have been arrested in Uli, Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State in a joint operation carried out by the police and the local vigilante in the community.

    Items recovered from them were one pump action gun, one loaded cartridge, two GSM handsets, and one high capacity motorcycle allegedly used for their operations as they concealed their arms in sacks.

    Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Ralp Uzoigwe confirmed the incident but said details would be made available to newsmen shortly even as they are already making more arrests and investigations.

    The alleged suspects, Ralph Ibe 24, from Umuoma Uli, Onyeka Onwukwalu, 20, from Amichi in Nnewi South Council Area and Chinedu Hez, 21, from Umuebuke Umuaku Uli were arrested during a robbery operation on a day after Christmas at Ndiakaba-Umuaku Junction in Eziama Uli.

    The Nation gathered that the suspects were arrested on a tip off about 5:00pm on Boxing Day. They opened fire on the team but were later over powered.

    The hoodlums were said to be terrorising Uli Community for a long time and before their arrest, the gang was notorious for kidnapping infants for rituals and adults for ransom apart from armed robbery and other heinous crimes.

    A victim who pleaded anonymity told newsmen that the arrested gang members robbed his home twice in August this year as the entire family took refuge in a nearby bush.