Operatives of the Ogun State Police Command have arrested three suspected kidnappers at a forest along Imeko-Iwoye Ketu Road and rescued three victims of their kidnap operation unhurt.
The spokesman of the Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed this development in a statement he issued on Monday.
Oyeyemi gave the names of the suspects as Aliu Abubakar, 29; Umaru Tukur, 24; and Yau Isah, 25.
He said they were arrested following a distress call received by operatives at Imeko Divisional Police Headquarters that kidnappers, numbering about eight, armed with dangerous weapons blocked Termac/Iwoye Road and shooting sporadically.
The information revealed further that the hoodlums had injured the duo of Bode Ogunleye and Muhammad Basa, while the trio of Alhaji Fatai Abdulsalam, Alhaji Dauda Orelope and Alhaji Rafiu Isah were abducted by the same group.
Upon the receipt of the distress call, the Divisional Police Officer, Imeko Division mobilised his men in conjunction with those of Amotekun Corps, So Safe Corps, Hunters, Vigilantes as well as Fulani/Yoruba youths and stormed the forest in search of the victims and their abductors.
Oyeyemi said due to the intense pressure, the kidnappers abandoned their victims and took to flight leaving an unregistered Bajaj motorcycle behind at their hideout in the forest.
The victims were rescued unhurt, while the security operatives continued combing the bush, which led to the discovery of the three amongst the suspects where they were hiding in the forest.
When they were searched, the key to the abandoned motorcycle at the scene of the kidnap was recovered in the pocket of one of them along with three cutlasses.
The Command’s Commissioner, CP Lanre Bankole, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to the Anti-Kidnapping Section of the State Criminal investigation Department for discreet investigation.
