8th July, 2021
By Jethro Ibileke/Benin
The Edo State Police Command has busted two notorious kidnappers and rescued six of their victims after a gun-duel along Ekpoma-Benin Road.
The feat was achieved by operatives of the Egba Divisional headquarters.
The victims, who were traveling in a Toyota Sienna Bus Reg. No. EDO RRU 780 NE, from Ekpoma to Benin city, the state capital, were intercepted at Igue-Ozevbaru by the kidnappers who abducted all the occupants of the vehicle, and forced them into the forest.
Spokesman of the Command, SP Kontongs Bello, in a statement on Thursday, disclosed that the operatives, acting on credible information from members of the public, swooped on the hoodlums in the forest, engaged them in gun fire.
Bello further explained that all the victims were rescued unhurt, while the police arrested two of the kidnappers, as others escaped into the forest with bullet wounds.
“The unrelenting DPO of Egba Division, SP John Emmanuel swiftly mobilized his patrol teams, safer highway, military and vigilante groups into the bush for immediate bush combing, with a view to ensure safe rescue of the kidnapped victims.
“The Police operatives’ team led by the DPO swooped on the kidnappers while leading the victims into the thick forest.
“The security operatives engaged the hoodlums in a gun duel around Obadan forest. The hoodlums then abandoned all the six (6) kidnapped victims, including the driver, Eric Ehiaguna “m” and fled in to the bush,” he said.
Bello gave the names of the arrested kidnappers as Abdulkarim Kazeem (40) and Odoh Chukchekua (40).
Meanwhile, the State Commissioner, Phillip Aliyu Ogbadu, has again assured citizens of the state and the general public that the Police would not relent in its efforts to make the State safe for economic activities.
The CP, who warned criminal elements in the State to repent or relocate from the State or risk being arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law, appealed to everyone to go about his or her lawful businesses without fear of intimidation or molestation.