CYRIACUS IZUEKWE
Police operatives from the Ogun State Command have busted a six-man kidnapping gang, arrested two of them, rescued their victim and recovered a gun with live ammunition inside the forest during a fierce battle.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that two members of the kidnapping gang, Umar Mohammed and Aliyu Mohammed, were arrested during the operation that lasted for several hours in the bush.
This was disclosed by the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, who confirmed that the suspects were in Police custody undergoing interrogation over their kidnapping activities in Ogun State.
SP Oyeyemi stated that the suspects were arrested following information received by Policemen at the Ewekoro Division that the kidnappers had abducted one man, Olorunsogo Oluwaseyi, at Soyooye area of Abeokuta.
He stated the Police obtained information that the suspects and their victim had been sighted in a forest at Onigbedu, Ewekoro Local Government Area of Ogun State.
Hence, the DPO of Ewekoro Division, CSP Sunday Opebiyi, mobilized his men in collaboration with So-Safe Corps operatives to the said forest for prompt action.
“On sighting the men, the kidnappers fired at them, but the superior fire power of the Policemen overpowered them, consequently two members of the gang were arrested and the victim rescued, while others escaped,” Oyeyemi said.
He stated that the victim, Olorunsogo Oluwaseyi, was kidnapped by the six men on Monday in front of his house at Soyooye at about 7:45 pm and they took him inside the forest for ransom before the Police busted the place and rescued him.
Some exhibits recovered from the gang included one gun with two live cartridges, two expended cartridges, the victim’s bag and some clothes among others.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in Ogun, Lanre Bankole, has directed that the suspects be transferred to the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the State CIID, while ordering that the fleeing members of the gang be brought to book as soon as possible.
The suspects risk several years of imprisonment if they are tried and found guilty before the Court for the alleged offence but that will be after the conclusion of investigation by the Police.