Kidnap gang falls as Police recover cache of arms, ₦6.9 million loot in Akwa Ibom, Nasarawa

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

The Nigeria Police Force says its operatives have rescued a kidnap victim, arrested three suspects, and recovered a cache of arms, ammunition, and over ₦6.9 million in coordinated operations across Akwa Ibom and Nasarawa States.

Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, who disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, said the operations reflect the renewed resolve of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, to dismantle kidnapping syndicates nationwide.

According to him, the Akwa Ibom breakthrough occurred on 16th August, when officers attached to Eket Division, supported by operatives from Ikot Udota Division and local youths, swiftly responded to a distress call of a suspected abduction at Factory Road, Afia Nsit, Eket.

“The prompt response led to the rescue of one Emerson and the arrest of two suspects, namely one Okon Edem Okon and Emmanuel Bassey. A search conducted in an uncompleted building in a nearby bush led to the recovery of one AK-47 rifle, one assault rifle, 67 rounds of ammunition, one pump-action shotgun with six live cartridges, six magazines, and a mobile phone suspected to belong to the hoodlums,” Adejobi stated.

In a related development, operatives of the Garaku Police Division in Nasarawa State intercepted a syndicate on 18th August after a lone motor crash involving an Opel Vectra at Angwan Mayo community near the VIO checkpoint. The two occupants reportedly fled the scene, abandoning the vehicle.

“A search conducted on the vehicle led to the recovery of a G3 rifle. Upon further search at the station, operatives discovered one AK-47 rifle, one Type 06 rifle, another G3 rifle, three magazines, 57 rounds of live ammunition, and ₦6,908,150 in cash,” Adejobi said.

Police operatives, in collaboration with the military, later arrested one of the fleeing suspects, Mohammed Tahir of Barkin Ladi, Plateau State.

He confessed to belonging to a seven-man kidnap gang responsible for abducting a lawyer in Nyanya, Abuja, from whom ransom had been collected.

The Inspector-General of Police, Egbetokun, commended the synergy between officers, community members, and vigilant citizens whose timely information proved critical in foiling the kidnappings.

“These consecutive successes reinforce the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to clamp down on criminal elements threatening public safety. We will not relent until kidnappers and their sponsors have no safe haven anywhere in Nigeria,” the IGP assured.

The Force said efforts were ongoing to track other fleeing gang members, adding that all arrested suspects would be charged to court upon conclusion of investigations.