POLICE RECOVER N7.5M RANSOM FROM SUSPECTED KIDNAPPERS
Two members of a kidnapping ring using Ijebu – Ode and Sagamu as their areas of operations have been arrested by operatives of the state Special Anti – Robbery Squad (SARS).
The suspects were Gbenga Taiwo and Femi Nejo, while others were said to be at large.
Parading nine other suspects alongside the duo at the Magbon, Abeokuta office of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, the state Commissioner of Police, Abdulmajid Ali, said they were arrested for alleged armed robbery and pipelines’ vandalism.
He said the kidnapping gang was responsible for kidnapping a-35-year-old woman (name withheld) along Ejinrin Road in Ijebu-Ode, and had already collected a sum of N7. 5m as ransom.
Ali said Nejo had confessed to engaging in a number of kidnappings in and around Ijebu Ode, which include one Ismaila, Baba Yellow and Dele Eleja.
The Police commissioner while speaking on the activities of vandals in Sagamu, said four suspects were arrested at Igbepa area at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation pipelines’ right of way.
Other members of the gang also reported fled when law enforcement agents swooped on them at the scene of the crime.
He said one of the suspects arrested was a guard with a private security company employed to monitor the pipelines.
The police boss said the command recovered some items from them which include 50 pieces of 50 litres Jerry cans fully loaded with stolen petroleum products as well as their vehicle with number plate KTU 64XB.
Ali said the suspects were arrested around 9pm on Sunday at Sagamu following a tip -off by some members of the public.
The Commissioner of Police also said the command arrested five suspected sea pirates at Iyana-Ilogbo in Ifo Local Government Area of the state while on their way to Abeokuta to kill their target in the state capital.
He said the suspects who have confessed to the crime were from Warri in Delta State. Arrested along with them is a man who was said to be the receiver of their goods.
Four others, he said, were arrested for armed robbery.
The robbery suspects, according to the Police Commissioner, allegedly snatched an Acura Jeep with customised number plate 22G from one Mrs Gbenga at gun point at Grammar School Area, Italapo , Ijebu-Ode.
