The Rivers State Police Command said its men gunned down two notorious kidnappers, including a gang leader nicknamed ‘Occasion’ during a shootout in a forest in Emuoha Local Government Area of the state.
The command also said four persons blindfolded and found in the kidnappers den were rescued.
Spokesperson for the command, Grace Iringe-Koko, disclosed this in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
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Iringe-Koko said the kidnap victims were rescued after operatives subdued the hoodlums during an exchange of gun fire.
Meanwhile, one of the victims, a commercial driver, who spoke with newsmen in Port Harcourt on condition of anonymity, said he was on a trip back to Port Harcourt when he noticed an obstruction on the road caused by a huge tree trunk blocking the road.
He said while driving a Sienna, an Audi car was in front of him, and as he was contemplating reversing, some men came out from the bush and fired bullets at the tyres of his vehicle and that of the Audi.
He stated, “The men, numbering six, asked us to lie on the ground and later grabbed us and took us through bush paths as they noticed a police van approaching. The police shot several times, but we were taken too deep into the forest.”
He said the kidnappers tortured them and extracted funds from them via their Automated Teller Machine cards and from their families.
The driver added, “They removed N800, 000 from one of the victims’ accounts and N1.9 million from another.
“Throughout our stay, the kidnappers only gave us tiny pieces of bread and sachet water.”
He added that the kidnappers blindfolded him and the three others all through their stay in captivity.
The police statement read, “In the early hours of Wednesday, December 14, 2023, gunshots rang out as four blindfolded men scrambled in confusion.
“When the gunshots ceased, the four men were eased off their blindfolds and realised that they had been rescued by the police from an ordeal in which they had lost hope after spending 48 hours in the den of a notorious kidnap kingpin.
“The policemen, while searching for the victims, discovered the camp of the kidnappers on the third day.
“They proceeded to conduct prompt but thorough surveillance to eliminate the incidence of collateral damage before engaging the criminals.
“In the confrontation that ensued, two of the kidnappers were killed, including the leader of the gang, Sunday Amadi, aka ‘Occasion’, who had had a N2 million bounty on him by the Chairman of Emohua LGA.”
Meanwhile, the state Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, commended the men of the command for their professionalism and persistence in fighting crime and criminality.
Disu said the command under his watch would stop at nothing to rid the state of criminal elements.
(Punch)
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