Kwara State Police Command has arrested seven suspected members of a kidnap gang which had been terrorising residents of the state in recent times.
The arrest followed incessant kidnappings occurring in some parts of Kwara South, especially in Ora, Oke-Ode and other areas in Ifelodun Local Government Area.
The suspects were identified as Umaru Mohammadu a.k.a Yellow, Mohammadu Mohammadu a.k.a Kerimi, Garuba Abubakar, Iliasu Usman, Ibrahim Abubakar, Usman Haruna and Umaru Bello who was reported to be an informant to other gang members.
Confirming the arrest in an electronically-signed statement, the Commissioner of Police, Victor Olaiya, said that after due consultation resulting from highly potent intelligence gathered, the command formed a powerful team comprising men drawn from the Counter Terrorism Unit, Anti-Robbery, Anti-Kidnapping, Anti-Cultism, Anti-Narcotic, Explosive Ordinance Department (EOD), Police Mobile Force (PMF) and Police Medical.
The police commissioner said that he handed a distinct directive to the combined team of police operatives to comb bushes and forests in the identified areas, arrest criminals found, recover arms and ammunition, rescue victims and clear the bushes of criminal elements.
Thenewsbearer learnt that the operation began on November 1, with positive outcome recorded with the arrest of the seven suspects.
A cash sum of N1.736 million was also recovered during a search of the suspects‘s hideout.
CP Olaiya stated that the efforts of the team of operatives brought a lull to the kidnappers’s criminal activities until they resumed on Friday, November 10 at about 8:30pm when they abducted some victims.
It was learnt that two members of a family were in killed in Agbeku Community in the state, while two other members of the same family were kidnapped on the Friday evening.
“The command will not relent on its pressure on the criminals until they relocate from the State of Harmony.
“The command’s team is committed to rescuing all victims sooner than expected, as it is hot on the heels of the criminals,” the police commissioner said.
He disclosed that the arrested suspects had been arraigned in court and remanded in prison custody.
He added that efforts were on to apprehend the perpetrators of the recent unfortunate incident.
