The University of Nigeria, Nsukka students’ kidnappers as well as other passengers have been sought after by the Enugu State Police Command.
It added that three victims had been rescued and nine suspected kidnappers had been detained in connection with two more kidnapping instances.
On Sunday night, a number of students and passengers headed to Nsukka were apparently kidnapped along the Nike-Opi-Nsukka road. The exact number of abducted people has not yet been determined.
According to accounts, the students were returning to campus after the start of classes following an eight-month strike by academics at public colleges across the nation.
Unverified reports said that the kidnappers are asking the parents of the victims for N300 million as ransom.
However, the command claimed that it had sent security resources to the scene in order to rescue the victims and apprehend the offenders in a statement released on Thursday by its spokesman, DSP Daniel Ndukwe.
“Alleged abduction: Enugu CP directs appropriate deployment of security along Ugwuogo-Nike/Opi/Nsukka road, rescue of allegedly abducted victims and arrest of offenders,” said the statement.
Ndukwe claimed that on receiving information about an alleged attack and kidnapping of some motorists at the Agu-Ekwegbe community axis of the Ugwuogo-Nike/Opi/Nsukka highway in the evening of October 23, 2022, CP Ahmed Ammani, the commissioner of police, ordered the maximum deployment of operational and intelligence resources of the command “to ensure adequate security on the said road, rescue an unknown number of persons allegedly abducted and arrest the hoodlums.”
Therefore, the Commissioner “has reminded users of the aforementioned road and the populace of the Command’s unshakable commitment to guarantee that their security and safety are maximally preserved, while emphatically reiterating that onslaught against unrepentant criminal elements in the State shall endure.”
Ndukwe did reveal, however, that on October 20, 2022, at around 2.30 pm, members of the command stationed at the Independence Layout Police Division detained three suspects in a kidnapping.
At Nkwo in the Ugwuaji village of Enugu South LGA, he identified the suspects as Chidi Jobbison (m), 24, Emmanuel Ogbu (m), 25, and Ogochukwu Nweke (f), 17, and freed their abducted male victim.
He said their detention followed the operatives’ prompt action in response to reliable intelligence that the trio and other members of their gang had kidnapped the victim from his home while traveling in a minibus.
They allegedly took the victim to a bush in Ugwuaji and used a POS operator to demand a ransom of N650,00.00.
He said that the Operatives were successful in capturing them, detaining the culprits, and recovering a yellow Suzuki minibus with Reg. No. UKP 270 YP and two (2) masks which they operate with.
In a similar manner, on October 16, 2022, at around 1.25 p.m., police officers working for the Udenu Police Division of the Command responded quickly to a distress call, arrested six suspects in a kidnapping, and freed two of their victims in Igbokwube Village, Amalla Community, Udenu Local Government Area.
The suspects include Ndidi Ekwueme (female), 27, a jujuist, Chinwe Okoro (female), 35, a ransom receiver, Okechi Chijioke (male), 29, and Ugwu Christiana (female), 24, as well as Titus Ekeh (male), 70, and Nwabueze Friday (male), 26. (provider of accommodation used for keeping the kidnapped victims).
“Continued investigation revealed that the male major suspect used Facebook to entice the victims by promising to offer them cheap clothing and handbags. Instead, he took the victims to the specified place while working with his associates, and they were held for a total of N500,000.00 in ransom before being caught and the victims being saved.
One Dane gun, one imitation gun, a tricycle, a gas burner, an 8-inch Winco foam, four bags containing garment materials, and other incriminating items were recovered from them.
The PPRO stated that following the completion of the investigation, the suspects would be arraigned in court.
