The police in Edo State have arrested three persons, including a businesswoman, for allegedly kidnapping a pastor of a Pentecostal church, Gilbert Akioyamen, in Ekpoma, Esan West Local Government Area of the state.
It was gathered that Akioyamen was abducted at about 6pm on March 24, along Ukun road while on his way to the Deeper Life camp in the area.
It was learnt that the suspects were arrested after the Ekpoma divisional police headquarters received a distress call and combed several buildings in the area.
According to the police, the victim was later rescued while two of the “hoodlums on guard” were arrested.
The police identified the suspects arrested in connection with the abduction as Charles Arasomwan, 22; Jezreel Ekanem, 21; and Mbindi Nneka, 26.
According to the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Chris Ezike, while Arasomwan and Ekanem were nabbed in the building where the victim was kept, Nneka was arrested in the apartment of one of the suspects, said to be her relative.
“Two locally made cut-to-size single barrel guns, mask, ATM cards, one long rope and one mat were recovered from the suspects,” Ezike added.
PUNCH gathered that the pastor escaped from the kidnappers’ den when the suspects were asleep.
One of the suspects, Ekanem, told our correspondent when he was paraded along with 74 others on Thursday, that the pastor had been kept in their custody by some other fleeing suspects, who promised to reward them.
He explained that they later fell asleep, after the cleric refused to speak with them, and woke up to discover that the victim had escaped.
“They said they were going to the bank and that we should keep an eye on the man. They said that they would give us something to buy some beer.
“The man did not talk to us, so we slept off. When we woke up, we realised he had escaped,” he said.
But the female suspect, Nneka, denied any knowledge of the abduction, adding that she was only in the apartment to remove her property.
She also blamed her landlord for her arrest.
The woman said, “I don’t know how the matter started. I was the one living in the apartment before I put my brother there when I got married. It was the landlord that instructed me to remove the property from the apartment .
“I wish I knew that it would have resulted into this; it was the landlord that put me in this problem. I only went there to move the property to my house.”
Meanwhile, the police commissioner said that a total of 25 armed robbery and kidnapping suspects were arrested in different locations between February 1 to April 7, 2016.
Two hours after the three abducted female students of Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary (BMJS), Ikorodu, were rescued by the police, the kidnap kingpin, one Emmanuel Arigidi in an exclusive interview with THISDAY said they did not rape or beat the girls.
Asked on why they targeted and abducted the girls he said he could not readily explain, adding that while the girls were in their custody, they were not harmed.
He also told THISDAY that they attacked the school after they parked their seven canoes at the edge of Adama Creeks.
He said they escaped from the school using the canoes since the water was too shallow for their boats to ply on.
The suspect is at the moment being taken to the Lagos State Police Command by the Officer-in-charge of the Inspector General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team (SIRT), ACP Abba Kyari.
To fast track the release of the girls, Arase had on Thursday deployed the Special Intelligence Response Team (SIRT) to compliment the efforts of the Lagos State Command.
On how the girls were released, a senior police officer, who spoke to THISDAY on anoymity, said Arigidi was arrested from Adama Creeks after he had came out to buy food.
The police source said they had earlier infiltrated the gang and mopped up their parents in a bid to force the hand of the kidnappers.
After Arigidi was arrested, one of fathers of two other gang members, who are still at large, was called in to speak with him and he gave them directions to the creeks.
When he got to the creeks, he was said to have appealed to their baser nature, while informing them that the police have arrested one of their gang members.
He also told them that if they dont release the girls, that the police had stationed their helicopters for aerial bombardment.
Seeing no other way out, the suspects quickly took the girls to Igbo-Okuta Bridge, Imota, dropped them their and called in anonymously.
The Lagos State Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni, who slept at the area last night, quickly stormed the bridge and carted the girls away to safety.
The girls have since been taken away by their respective parents to be refreshed and consequently taken for medical tests.
Residents of Okeho and Iganna communities in Iwajowa Local Government Area, Oyo State, may now sleep with their eyes closed following the arrest of some Fulani men suspected to be members of a notorious kidnapping and armed robbery syndicate that has been terrorising the entire local government for a long time.
The robbery suspects
According to a police source, the suspects were arrested after several reports of armed robbery and kidnapping of notable figures by the hoodlums who were said to be armed with high calibre rifles.
The situation was said to have forced the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, to deploying his newly designed elite operatives of Special Intelligence Team (SIT) to Oyo State, to track and apprehend the culprits.
The reliable source also revealed that the residents of the aforementioned communities, which are border towns between Nigeria and Republic of Benin, had been living in fear over the criminal activities of the hoodlums, some of whom were said to be children of some rich Fulani herdsmen resident in the community.
It was further revealed that most of the victims of the hoodlums were rich cattle traders residing in Iwajowa Local Government Area as well as traders who ply the route for business in neighbouring Benin Republic. The activities of the hoodlums were said to have reached an alarming height as the state’s security apparatus could not check their activities.
Sources at Force Headquarters Abuja, disclosed that the SIT operatives, on arriving Okeho and Iganna communities, went undercover for two weeks gathering intelligence from locals before swooping on five members of the gang identified as Abdullahi Mohammed, 35; Abubakar Abubakar 28; Damanya Gambo 30; Usman Idris and Usman Saidu 30. Also arrested was a 30-year-old member, Hassan Maikudi, who led the gang in kidnapping his father over whom a ransom of N1.5 million was paid before he was released.
Others were said to have fled into the bush as the sum of N200,000 and several amulets were recovered from the suspects.
Although the search for the fleeing suspects continues, some residents have hailed the police for coming to their aid, noting that the activities of the hoodlums could have plunged the community into ethnic crisis as there was suspicion between the Fulani and the Yoruba residents of the communities as to who really was behind the rampant incidents of robbery and kidnapping in the area.
Jimoh Abbas, a native of Okeho, said the Fulani residents were suspecting their Yoruba counterparts because most of the victims were Fulani.
He said: “The Fulani elders in our community thought that most of the boys committing the atrocities were Yoruba. Whenever we went close to them, they would be looking at us with suspicion. Meanwhile, were also suspecting the Fulani boys because we have been observing how they were spending money around the area. We knew that they could not justify the kind of lavish lifestyle they were living and tension was building seriously. But all thanks go to God that the policemen from Abuja have solved the problem.”
In his own defence, one of the suspects, Mohammad Abudlahi, a Fulani from Kwara State, who claims to be a graduate of Mathematics with two wives and three children, said it was poverty that led him into crime.
He said that after graduating from the university, he managed to secure a teaching job where he earned just N15, 000 monthly, which he said was too poor for him.
He said: “Before I was arrested, I was a teacher. I quit my job because I wanted to join the Nigerian Army. I applied but I wasn’t admitted.
“I obtained an Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in Mathematics and Statistics from Kwara State Polytechnic in 2005 and went further to obtain a BSC in Mathematics from Kwara State University. I graduated in 2009 and proceeded for National Youth Service. I started working in 2011. I got a job at a private secondary school in Okeho.
“I taught Physics and Mathematics and earned N15, 000 monthly. I was very popular among most residents of the area, especially the people of my tribe. I grew up in that area with my parents and siblings. I was also staying there with my wives and children.
“Most of my friends who knew I was well educated knew that I was not making enough money from my job. A few months ago, two of them, Damanya and Abubakar, approached me with an idea. They said that since I was highly respected and well known in the community, I could always make good money for myself by giving them information about rich people residing in the community.
“I asked what they needed to do with such information and they said they would either rob or kidnap such persons. I told them that I could not do so because my eyes are very bad and I could barely see at night.
“Damanya told me that all they needed was for me to always look out for potential targets and when it is identified, in the case of kidnapping I would be on ground to gather intelligence from relatives of the victims.
“In other cases, he said, I would have to tell and give them information on persons they wanted to rob.
“We did a couple of jobs. I gave them information when they wanted to rob a cattle rearer after he had sold some cattle. I informed them when the man came home and I followed him secretly until he mounted a motorcycle. I gave them the information and by evening the news went round that the man had been robbed and the money he made from the sale of his cattle was carted away. From that operation, I got N40, 000.
“There were several other times they blocked the highway leading to the border and robbed traders going for business across the border and dispossessed them of their monies. When they returned, they brought my own share, because they didn’t want me to tell anyone the people who carried out the operation.
“There were several operations we did together and I usually got my share. But last month, they went and kidnapped one Alhaji Maikudi, who is a rich cattle rearer. It was his son, Hassan, who brought the job and I didn’t know his reason.
“Hassan is also my friend, but he works with his father who has a herdsman and they have several cows. He gave the information to Danmayan and they kidnapped his father, took him into the bush and kept him there for one week before a sum of N1.5 million was paid as ransom and he was released.
“During the operation I was in the community monitoring what was happening. I was attending meetings and I took part in planning how we would go and look for Alhaji Maikudi. My father also took part in the search. He was also in the bush looking for Alhaji.
“Some of my gang members were also with them and they were always relaying information to those keeping Alhaji. On my part, I was always giving them information about any plan that was to be carried out in the community.
“In the end, Hassan ensured that the sum of N1.5 million was paid as ransom after some of his father’s cattle were sold. He got, N700,000 as his own share while Abubakara, Damanya, Saidu and I got N200,000 each. I had barely spent my own money when I was arrested by the police.
I was picked up in a bar, where I had gone to have some drinks. The policemen were also in the bar drinking and I didn’t know that they were policemen. I liked the way they were seated and offered to buy them some drinks. But before I knew what was happening, I was arrested and whisked away.
“I had thought that the policemen were from Ibadan on routine raid, and I threatened to call my lawyer. It was when I got here that I realised that I was in a deep mess. I told the police the role I played and took them to my house and handed over my N200,000 share of the ransom.”
Another suspect, Abubakar Abubakar, also a Fulani from Kwara State, confessed that he received the sum of N80,000 from the gang.
He said: “Whenever they go for an operation, they gave me my share. It was Damanya who would instruct Abdullahi to bring the money to me.
“I am not into the business full time. I have my own business. I sell telephone accessories and everyone within our community knows me very well.
“The only job I played an active role in was the kidnapping of Alhaji Maikudi. It was his son, Hassan, who brought them to Damanya and they did all the preparations.
“Before the man was abducted, Hassan was the one who monitored the road and informed us when his father left the house and headed to the mosque where he was waylaid and abducted.
“I was also part of the search team that went into the bush to look for the man, and I was always sending information to my colleagues who were keeping the man as we were moving.
“After the operation, I learnt I had a share of N200, 000, but I didn’t get it before I was arrested.”
Hassan Maikudi, who led kidnappers to abduct his father, showed no remorse. He refused answering questions put to him and said he was wrongly accused by his friends.
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has declared that the new anti-kidnapping law passed by the State Assembly will help in checking the rising wave of the ugly crime in the state.
He spoke on Friday when he gave his assent to the bills on: 1) Rivers State Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori ( Amendment) Law, 2015. (2) Rivers State Kidnap (Prohibition) Amendment Law, 2015 (3) Rivers State Traditional Rulers Law No.4 of 2015 passed by the Rivers State House of Assembly.
He said with the law becoming operational, criminals convicted for kidnapping and accessories to kidnap will forfeit their assets, funds and proceeds from kidnap.
He said : “I am happy to assent to this anti-kidnapping bill as it will help the security agencies in their fight against kidnappers and their sponsors”.
On the Rivers State Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori ( Amendment) Law, 2015, Governor Wike said the renaming of the school became necessary because of the contributions of the law Saro-Wiwa to the development of the state.
He said that the third bill he assented to titled, ‘Rivers State Traditional Rulers Law No.4 of 2015′ is aimed at returning dignity and respect to the traditional institutions.
The governor said that there was no reason why the State Traditional Institution should be politicised.
Governor Wike commended the State Assembly for always putting the interest of the state first in their consideration of bills.
Presenting the three laws to the governor for assent, Majority Leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Mr Martins Amaehule said that the three laws are vital to the good governance of the state.
Speaker of the House, Mr Ikunyi Ibani assured the people of the state that the Assembly will continue to partner with the Executive for the development of the state.
The Police in Kaduna on Thursday paraded 16 members of a suspected terrorist group also known as ‘Sara-Suka’ in the Rigasa area of Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
Also in police net is a 15-man gang of suspected armed robbers, who specialises in snatching cars, motorcycles, and women handbags in the state and other neighbouring states in the North.
Among the suspected robbers paraded is a 20-year-old boy and a 200-Level Accountancy student of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Ibrahim Kabir, who had confessed to the crime.
He told reporters during an interview how he got himself involved in the crime, but begged for forgiveness.
He also explained how they sold the stolen vehicles at give away prices.
In all, 31 suspected criminals are now cooling their heels behind bars in the state, according to the State Commissioner of Police, Umar Shehu.
Parading the suspects at the Bida Road Headquarters of the Command in Kaduna on Thursday, Shehu said an an AK47 rifle, four barreta pistols, four single barreled short guns, five single barreled long guns, 39 rounds of live ammunition and 92 live cartridges were recovered from them.
The commissioner said the robbery suspects were arrested in Zaria, Kafanchan and the state capital by operatives of the Special Intelligence Bureau of the command while on a stop and search operation following a tip-off by members of the public.
He said during the operation, a total of eight assorted vehicles, including a Prado jeep and 14 motorcycles were also recovered from the suspected robbers.
“This is one of the biggest arrests so far made by the command in the last one year, as all the suspects were apprehended just within the month of May, 2015,” the police commissioner said.
The commissioner added that the suspects sold off the stolen vehicles in the Republic of Niger to their accomplices.
He said the command was working closely with the Interpol in Niger Republic to track down the remaining stolen vehicles and their buyers.
Meanwhile, the police commissioner alleged that the 16 members of the terrorist group, ‘Sara-Suka’ had been terrorising the people of Rigasa and its environs in the Igabi Local Government Area of the state.
He noted that the suspected terrorist group had been attacking residents and later killed a middle-aged man and injured two others.
As the wave of kidnapping in Ekiti State reaches a critical level, the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state and Governor Ayodele Fayose are pointing accusing fingers at each other.
Fayose and Omirin
Barely a week after a nurse working with the Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido Ekiti , Mrs Margaret Aladeneka, was kidnapped by unknown gunmen, former Chief Medical Director of the Ekiti State Teaching Hospital, Dr Patrick Adegun, was last Thursday abducted.
Adegun, who is a staff of EKSUTH was kidnapped at about 8.00pm alongside his wife, Kikelomo and taken to an unknown destination. They were kidnapped few metres from the gate of their house located at Goshen Avenue, Oke Ila within Ado Ekiti, the state capital.
Also, a lecturer at Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, Dr. Femi Omisore was at the weekend kidnapped by unidentified people in Ado Ekiti, while on his way to Oye Ekiti, where a new Federal University is located.
The lecturer, it was learnt, works at the Department of Environmental Design Management of the institution.
According to a source, the kidnappers also killed Omisore’s driver and burnt his vehicle.
It’s Fayose’s faults – APC
The APC in Ekiti has alleged that the failure of the governor to fulfil his promises to his rough-necks after using them for political violence had exposed the state to all manner of characters that now stalk the residents after the governor’s refusal to adequately finance security agencies to protect the people.
APC Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, said in statement that so far, the governor had failed to deliver on all his campaign promises, regretting that besides house-breaking and robbery incidents, six persons, including medical doctors, have been kidnapped in the state in the last five months.
According to him, the horror of the kidnapping of medical doctors has forced medical practitioners in the state to down tools.
“We raised the alarm when the trend started, calling the attention of Ekiti people to the governor’s refusal to fund security agencies like his predecessor, which was responsible for low crime rate between 2010 and 2014; even though Fayose increased his personal security vote to N200 million per month
“What is happening now is a confirmation of our earlier claim that the 19 APC lawmakers were targets of kidnapping to reduce their number in order to stall his impeachment. This would have been done if they had attended the meeting at ABUAD where we were reliably informed that an ambush had been laid for them,” Olatunbosun said.
He added that the recent kidnap incidents could not be detached from the earlier state of siege and insecurity by criminals after the government unleashed thugs, miscreants and Ado Ekiti jail break escapees to harass political opponents.
“The thugs, who are still currently being lodged in the Government House, had in the past unleashed terror on opposition members in every town across Ekiti State. We have every reason to believe that it is the same criminals and their colleagues from neighbouring Ondo State that are responsible for the recent kidnapping in the state,” Olatubosun said.
He added:”We raised the alarm about the state of insecurity in Ekiti in the last six months that Fayose mounted the saddle as governor. It was first jailbreak, followed by the reign of armed robbers, next was the reign of thugs who maimed opponents in all towns in Ekiti and now it is kidnappers.
“We call on security agencies, especially the Acting IGP Solomon Arase, to revisit our petitions on the thugs sheltered in the Government House by Fayose who he has been using to harass APC members, including the 19 lawmakers. They should be arrested and prosecuted now. Their details are with the security agents already.
“We sympathise with Ekiti people who were deceived by Fayose into believing he is the best for them. They now know better, as the difference between a government that really cared for the masses and a government of stunts and deceit is becoming clearer by the day.”
The APC vampires are back, Fayose alleges
According to the assertion by governor Fayose’s Media Aide on New Media, Mr Lere Olayinka; ‘’No doubt, Ekiti State is always made ungovernable whenever the All Progressives Congress elements lose power in the state.
‘’When Engr Segun Oni of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was governor, they made Ekiti ungovernable, using organised crime – Kidnapping and armed robbery.
‘’In just one year (2009 – 2010) that they invaded Ekiti State with the Charles Ojo Ovie-led gang; here are a few of what they did; January 3, 2009 – Kehinde Fasubaa was killed in Ado-Ekiti; August 2, 2009 – Three officers of the State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) – SP Mohammed Manua, CPL Wasiu Olatunbosun and CPL Simeon Obadero were killed at Fajuyi Park area, Ado Ekiti; August 3, 2008 – The then Trade Union Congress (TUC) Chairman, Barrister R.K. Olaiya and his wife, Barrister Franca Olaiya, Chief Olayode Olusola and two others were kidnapped at Ikole-Ekiti. The victims were coming to Ado-Ekiti in a Toyota Corolla car with registration number EK 621 A01;
October 7, 2009 – One Rev Jeje, Sanusi and Odigie Harrison were killed at Ifaki-Ekiti during an armed robbery; January 30, 2010 – Attah of Aiyede, Oba Adeleye Orisagbemi, Provost of the College of Education, Ikere, Dr. Gabriel Olowoyo and two others were kidnapped and murdered.
According to him; ‘’Now that their evil plot to impeach Governor Ayodele Fayose has failed, they have resorted to their old tactics – organised crimes!
‘’Kidnapping is now rampant in Ekiti as it was in 2009 when they desperately wanted to snatch power from Engr Segun Oni of the PDP.’’
Two brothers, identified as Stephen Odion and Stephen Akhere, both 26 years old, have been arrested by the Edo State Command of the Nigeria Police for alleged kidnapping.
The suspects, along with one Stephen Ehikioya, 33, suspected to be the older brother of the twins, were said to have ambushed one Alfred Ehikioya along Era-Ekpoma road, shot him in the leg and kept him in a forest for four days.
The abductors were said to have released their victim after receiving a ransom of N500,000 from his relatives.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Samuel Adegbuyi, who paraded the brothers in Benin, along with other suspects arrested for various criminal offences, said the suspected kidnappers and others at large had earlier abducted an evangelist, who was later released after the payment of N1 million.
Adegbuyi noted that they also attempted to abduct a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police.
He also added that the police recovered one Qlink motorcycle marked “URU DFD QD” and a Toyota Dianna Truck with number plate NZM 425 XZ.
The CP said, “After their arrest, investigation revealed that the suspects had on January 11, 2015, attempted to kidnap one Inegbedion Peter ACP (retd.) whom, while escaping from their attack, sustained a gunshot injury on his hands from the kidnappers.”
However, one of the twins, Akhere, explained that he was lured into the crime by another man whom he could not identify.
“Since I was born, I couldn’t afford to go to school. I was working as a labourer at Ugba when a man deceived me into the act.
“When I got home, I told my brother about it; I told him that we would do it only once and stop. In our first attempt, we were successful and got some money from it.
“We were four in the group and we got N1 million in total as ransom. But my brother and I got N500,000 and bought a vehicle with my share.
“It was in our second attempt that we were caught in a farm. The double-barrel gun we used was given to us by someone who got it from his father. But we couldn’t find him when we went to return it,” he said.
Among others paraded by the police chief were three armed robbery suspects, two murder suspects and seven suspected kidnappers, while four persons were arrested for alleged rape.
CP Adegbuyi, however, added that the suspects would be prosecuted according to the law, at the end of investigations.
The men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ogun State Police Command have arrested a serving councillor of Ward 14, Odogbolu Local area of Ogun State, Agboola Lateef, and four others for kidnapping.
The other are: Mukaila Olatunji, Sunkanmi Dacosta, Tunde Akilo and Ahmed Adebanjo.
Three members of the kidnapping syndicate were said to be at large.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Valentine Ntomchukwu, led the team to their den in Ijebu-Igbo which comprised of three bungalows in a remote part of the town.
The councillor, who said he regretted being arrested with the kidnappers, denied being part of the syndicate. He claimed it was his younger brother, who is currently at large that drew him into the mess.
He said, “My brother called that his car had problem around Itoikin-Sagamu, and he asked that I should release my car for him. I later released my car, but I never knew he was into kidnapping business. I feel bad being paraded with the kidnappers.”
Sunkanmi Dacosta who said he ran errands buying food for their victims, said the syndicate had collected various ransoms from their victims relations.
He said, “We had collected N900,000. We had collected N1.3m and N2m from our victims’ relations.”
Mukaila Olatunji who claimed to be a herbalist owns the houses that served as the dens where the victims were kept.
“We usually bring the victims at night. And I am the owner of one the guns recovered from us. I used it for hunting while I was young,” he said.
Ntomchukwu said the den contained a shrine where the suspects hypnotise their victims and fleeced their family members.
“They have had five people as their victims so far. Currently we are profiling them, to know the total amount they had collected from their victims.”
The men of SARS led by Mohammed Tijani led the team that smashed the syndicate last Monday through the arrest of Tunde Akilo. This led to the arrest of four others.
THE NATION – A woman and two men suspected to be kidnappers have been arrested by the police in Lagos, while allegedly attempting to abduct three children.
The suspects - Chinava Nancy Okafor, Samsondeen Yusuf and Mufutau Kosoko – were arrested at separate locations.
Okafor, the police said, was arrested at Ile-Iwe bus stop, Egbeda, on the outskirts of the city by operatives attached to Ikotun Police Station. Yusufu and Kosoko were held at Adefemi Junction, Ipaja and Idimu on the outskirts of the city.
They allegedly attempted to kidnap Salawat Sonubi (14), Prosper Kingsley (five), and a yet-to-be-identified child.
Okafor had been beaten and stripped naked by a mob and was about being burnt when policemen rescued her.
Chinava confessed to being a kidnapper, saying she was trying to steal the unidentified child when she was caught by residents.
Yusufu was almost lynched at Ipaja before she was rescued by operatives. Kosoko, who “stole Kingsley from his house”, was apprehended by neighbours.
Police spokesperson, Ngozi Braide, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said: “On May 6, about 3pm, policemen attached to the Ikotun Division responded to a distress call at Ile-Iwe bus stop, Egbeda. The policemen rescued the victim and arrested Chinava Nancy Okafor who had been stripped naked and was about to be lynched by an angry mob. The woman has admitted to being a kidnapper and the case is under investigation at State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba.
“Also on the same day, at about 6.45am, one Prosper Kingsley (5) of 23, Imosan Compound in Idimu was allegedly abducted by one Mufutau Kosoko (34) at the above address. The victim was rescued by neighbours, while Kosoko was arrested by police operatives at Idimu.
“On May 5, about 10.30pm, policemen attached to Ipaja Division responded to a distress call at Adefemi Junction, Ipaja and also rescued one Samsondeen Yusuf who was about being lynched by an angry mob for attempting to kidnap one Salawat Sonubi (14) of Adelami Dada Street, Ipaja. The suspect is receiving treatment at the Oke-Odo General Hospital and the SCID is investigating.”
Meanwhile, a suspected kidnapper who allegedly attempted to abduct a six-year-old boy has been set ablaze at Araromi bus stop, Iyana-Ipaja.
As at 7pm yesterday, the middle-aged man’s body was still burning as riot policemen around the place could not rescue him.
Rivers State governor and chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has expressed worry over the rising cases of kidnapping and other criminal acts in the state.
The governor traced the rise in criminality in the state to the resumption of Mr Mbu Joseph Mbu as the state commissioner of police, and when those opposed to his government organised former militants to protest against him on the streets of Port Harcourt.
Amaechi spoke yesterday while performing the groundbreaking ceremony of an ultra-modern secretariat building of the Rivers State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Port Harcourt.
He said, “This state was very quiet and calm until they removed the commissioner of police and brought Mbu Joseph Mbu. Not only did they bring Mbu, they also brought criminals back to the streets; they bought them T-shirts to demonstrate, but they forgot that once you bring them out, you can’t send them back, unless you have a very strong commissioner of police who can send them back.
“Since they did that, we have been suffering from kidnappings. As I am talking to you now, nobody can give account of where Akas Baba (kidnapped journalist) is. I have called for an emergency security council meeting so that we can discuss that.”
The governor, who said he is the safest individual in the state, called on journalists in the state to join in the fight to eradicate kidnapping and other criminal acts in the state, rather than supporting people who are backing the criminals.
Amaechi said, “The same journalists that are seated here, who are my friends, are not writing about these and how to send the criminals back. (0)
