Edo Police nab 8 suspected kidnappers, rescue 5 victims

Operatives of the Edo State Police Command have arrested eight suspected kidnappers and rescued five victims in a series of coordinated operations across the state.

The breakthrough, according to the Command’s spokesman, SP Moses Yamu, followed sustained intelligence-led raids and community-backed surveillance under the directives of Commissioner of Police, Monday Agbonika.

In one of the operations, police officers from the Uromi Division, working alongside local vigilantes, responded to a distress call along the Uromi–Igueben Road by Eko-Ibadin Junction on September 23, 2025. The operation led to the arrest of four suspected kidnappers — Muritala Abdullahi (33), Nasiru Rabiu (40), Yahaya Ibrahim (38), and Abdulmalik Salihu (27).

Items recovered from the suspects included three ATM cards, four SIM cards, ten used SIM packs, a CJTF uniform, a dagger, a cutlass, charms, and wraps of suspected hard drugs. The suspects, police said, were charged in court after investigations and have since been convicted.

In a separate operation on October 14, joint security teams stormed criminal hideouts at Morgan and Michelin forests, rescuing four kidnapped victims — Augustine Cecilia (45), Augustine Okaira (57), Mary Friday (38), and Okpaiso Comfort (67) — all freed unhurt and reunited with their families.

The same day, operatives from the Amedokhian Tactical Division acted on credible intelligence to track kidnappers along the Idegun railway line, leading to the rescue of Faith Odine Osaghale (39) after a brief gun duel forced the abductors to flee.

A follow-up operation on October 15 by officers of the Ekpoma Division, supported by vigilantes and local hunters, led to the arrest of Rabiu Shehu (27) and Hashiru Yusuf (28), who were allegedly transporting food items to bandits in the forest.

“Upon interrogation, they confessed the items were given to them by one Medisara Idris (35) to deliver to a herdsman inside the forest,” the police said. Investigations are ongoing to uncover the wider network behind the operations.

Commissioner Agbonika commended the joint effort of security personnel, vigilantes, and local hunters, describing their cooperation as key to the sustained clampdown on kidnappers in Edo.