The Edo State Police Command on Saturday said that it has rescued five victims of abduction and arrested two suspects in connection with an attack in the state on Friday.
This was contained in a statement by the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bello Kontongs.
The statement revealed that arms and ammunition were recovered from the suspects, stating that the operatives acted on a tip-off that suspected kidnappers, accosted a vehicle conveying a corpse from Lagos to Imo State on the Benin-Lagos expressway, kidnapping three occupants of the vehicle.
“On receipt of the information, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Egba Division, SP John Emmanuel, mobilised operatives and the local vigilance group for immediate bush-combing.
“They advanced into the nearby Ute Forest and after hours of bush-combing, they came across the suspected kidnappers who opened fire on them.
Read Also: [ARTICLE] Edo people and Nigerians’ attitude to COVID-19 vaccines
“The operatives engaged the suspects in a gun duel which forced the latter to abandon the victims.
“Two of the suspects, Mohammed Ishaku (25) and Mubarak Wada (26), were arrested while others escaped into the thick forest with bullet wounds.
“Three locally made guns, two live cartridges, two cutlasses and some charms were also recovered from the suspects,’’ Kontongs stated.
He said the kidnapped victims conveying the corpse were three in number and that they were rescued alongside two other victims that had earlier been abducted.
Kontongs stated also that the rescued victims had been taken to hospital while efforts were in progress to arrest the fleeing gang members, NAnN reports.
