Police arrest six suspected kidnappers, recover over N2.3m ransom

The Delta State Police Command has arrested six suspected kidnappers and recovered over N2.3 million in ransom paid by their victims.

The Commissioner of Police for Delta State, CP Abaniwanda Olufemi, stated this on Thursday while parading 16 suspects for various crimes.

Olufemi noted that the command, under his leadership, has achieved significant successes during the period under review, with plans to increase police visibility and raid black spots and criminal hideouts across the 25 local government areas.

He said, “Acting on credible intelligence, operatives from the Ebrumede Division, while on patrol, intercepted a tricycle carrying six passengers.

“Upon sighting the police, the suspects attempted to escape, but the operatives pursued and arrested them. A search revealed N2,344,000 in ransom money and some suspected stolen phones.

“Further investigation revealed that the phones belonged to kidnapping victims, and the money was part of the ransom paid for their release.”

Olufemi also mentioned that the anti-kidnapping squad led a sting operation in the Umunede forest area, where two people kidnapped along the Asaba-Benin Expressway were rescued.

He added that the police acted on credible information regarding the kidnapping. When the kidnappers realised the police were closing in, they abandoned the victims and fled.

Olufemi, lamenting the prevalence of hard drugs in the state, noted that while on stop-and-search duty along the Asaba-Agbor Expressway, the command’s Dragon Patrol team intercepted a 39-year-old man, Jammed Abdulahi Shola, driving a green Toyota vehicle.

He said a search of the vehicle uncovered 320 packs of codeine, 125 sachets of tramadol, and other hard drugs in large quantities.