The Ogun State Police Command says it has arrested five members of a kidnap syndicate terrorising Obada Oko and its environs in Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state.
In a press statement on Wednesday, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, identified the suspects as Aliu Manya, Usman Abubakar, Abayomi Olayiwola, Nasiru Muhammad, and Bello Usman.
He explained that the suspects were apprehended following a tip-off received by policemen attached to Obada Oko Divisional Headquarters that they were sighted on two motorcycles in a forest at Eleja area.
“Upon the information, the DPO of Obada Oko Division, Chief Superintendent of Police, Tijani Muhammed, quickly mobilised his men and in conjunction with other stakeholders, the so safe corps, hunters, and local vigilantes, stormed the forest where the five suspects were apprehended,” Oyeyemi said.
Among the items recovered from the suspects were illicit drugs such as packs of tramadol, weeds suspected to be Indian hemp, three cutlasses, and two motorcycles.
“While an investigation is going on, a victim who was earlier kidnapped and released came forward to identify the suspects as those that kidnapped him,” he added.
“His brother, who took ransom to them, also identified two among the suspects as those who collected the money from him for the release of his brother.”
In his reaction, the Commissioner of Police in Ogun, Lanre Bankole, ordered that the suspects be transferred to the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for discreet investigation.
He also directed that other members of the gang be hunted and brought to justice, in a bid to rid the state of kidnappers.
Bankole appealed to residents of the state to support the police by providing them useful information that would help in tracking down the fleeing criminals within their areas.
