Police dismantle Kogi kidnap gangs, arrest six

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The police said their Intelligence Response Team smashed some suspected members of a kidnap gang who had been terrorising Kogi State and its environs. The police also said they have rescued four kidnapped victims at different locations in the state.

They also announced the arrest of six suspects, including Ojonimi Negedu, 32, Awodi Ezekiel, 26, Micheal Sule, 21, and three others in two separate operations.

A statement on Friday in Abuja by the Force Public Relations Officer, Donald Awunah, said a special operation conducted by the operatives of the Intelligence Response Team of the IGP’s Monitoring Unit nabbed three suspects at different black spots in Kogi State.

It added that the suspects, who were members of a notorious kidnap gang, had for a while operated in major cities in Kogi and neighbouring states, stating that they were trailed and arrested at their hideouts.

The statement said, “The leader of the gang who gave his name as Ibrahim Nasarawa, led the operatives of the Intelligence Response Team to their den where Edward Abutu Amedu was held hostage.

“On sighting the operatives, the armed guards, who were stationed by the gang to keep watch over their victims, opened fire on the police and the operatives responded and overpowered them in a tactical operation that saw three members of the kidnap gang suffer fatal injuries while their victim was rescued unhurt.”

The police said two officers sustained gunshot injuries and were responding to treatment in the hospital while the other members of the gang escaped with bullet wounds.

In another operation led by the IRT, the police said three members of a kidnap gang that abducted Mrs. Mayo Ohemi, Nichodemus Kadiri and Miss Victoria Abdul from the Acharu Egume area of Kogi State were arrested and their confession led to the rescue of the victims from whom they demanded N20m ransom.

The rescued victims, who sustained various degrees of injuries in the hands of their abductors, are now receiving treatment, the statement added.