Police Nabs 3 Kidnappers Terrorising Epe Axis

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

Three suspected kidnappers, who abducted a female police sergeant and a lawyer at Agbowa area of Lagos State and then demanded N5 million ransom in February, have been arrested.

The suspects identified as Mimo Blessing 20, Aboy Feku 23 and Yola Samuel 30 were arrested by the Anti-Kidnapping unit of the Lagos State Police Command while returning from where they went to pick the ransom collected from the lawyer’s family.

Parading the suspects before newsmen at the Command Headquarters in Ikeja on Wednesday, the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni stated that the suspects were arrested by operatives of the command during a routine patrol of the area.

According to him “Based on the numerous kidnapping activities that have been recorded in that axis for some time, the anti-kidnapping unit of the command have been on patrol of the area on daily basis.

“The operation yielded a result with the arrest of two suspects and their bike man who were on their way to pick up ransom collected from family of a victim around 6:00 am,” he stated.

Speaking to newsmen, one of the suspect Aboy Feku, said the kidnapped female sergeant was waylaid by his gang at Ejirin Road in Omu Ijebu, Ogun State while she was on her way to Ketu police division where she works.

According to him,“The police woman was inside a bus that we ambushed at Omu -Ijebu. We kidnapped her and five other people who were taken to our camp at Molajoye for ransom.

He continued, “We were paid N200,000 by the family of the policewoman. I was not among those that went for the operation, I only follow them to kidnap the lawyer at Igbodu Farm but was given N250.000 from the N5 million paid by the family of the lawyer.”

In his own confessional statement, Mimo Blessing said he is just a cook at the camp and his responsibility is to take care of the kidnapped victims.

“I came to the camp the day the lawyer was kidnapped. I don’t follow them for the operations where people were kidnapped.

“A day after receiving the N5 million ransom paid by the family of the kidnapped lawyer, me, Aboy and our bike man, Samuel were accosted by police on the road.

“During the police search, weapons and a lot of cash were recovered from us while our gang leader, Tallest and others escaped,” he stated.

The suspects, it would be recalled, abducted the female police officer, identified as Sergeant Bola at Omu Ijebu, while returning to her Station at Ketu in February alongside four other passengers in the vehicle.

Thereafter, the kidnappers also went to Ogbodu farm settlement and abducted the  lawyer, who own a farm in the area.