The Lagos State Police Command says it
has arrested members of a kidnapping syndicate suspected to have
kidnapped the Chairman, Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, Kehinde
Bamigbetan.
According to the police, the suspects
were arrested shortly after kidnapping an Indian, Vivex Changrani, in
the early hours of Monday.
The Commissioner of Police for the
command, Umar Manko, said the suspects were not based in Lagos but only
operated in the state on weekends after which they would flee to Ghana.
He said apart from Bamigbetan, the
suspects had been involved in a series of high-profile kidnapping
including that of a Federal High Court judge in Lagos.
He said, “Based on painstaking
investigation and tracking of Nigerian kidnappers who kidnapped Ejigbo
LCDA Chairman, Kehinde Bamigbetan, a sitting Federal High Court Judge
and other notable individuals in Lagos, a team of detectives, led by the
Officer in Charge of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, traced the
kidnappers to the Agbara area of Ogun State where the kidnappers have
their camp.
“After 72 hours of laying ambush, the
policemen stormed the house where the kidnappers were gathered. A gun
duel ensued and seven kidnappers were killed. Two of the kdinappers,
Ogbonna Emenike and Uchenna Nwanyu, were arrested alive with bullet
wounds while four AK47 rifles, 28 AK47 magazines and over 1,000 rounds
of AK47 live ammunition were recovered.
“A Honda CRV and a Nissan Pathfinder as
well as charms were recovered from them. An Indian national, Vivex
Changrani, who was kidnapped at Ikoyi two hours before the operation,
was also rescued by the police.”
Manko said the suspects were able to
evade arrest for so long because they were in Ghana and due to
international law, Nigeria policemen had to collaborate with INTERPOL to
track the suspects.
The police boss said the suspects operated in army uniforms which deceived members of the public.
“We discovered that because the suspects
operated in army uniform, they easily got away. Sometimes, they could
even alight from their vehicles in broad daylight and direct traffic in
order to escape,” he said.
According to police detectives, who
spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, the suspects
lived flamboyant lifestyles in Ghana.
A police source, said the leader of the
gang, Jonah Benjamin Osinachi aka China, who was killed during a gun
duel with the police, owned a big restaurant in Ghana and other
investments which he funded with proceeds from his illegitimate
business.
He said, “The suspects only struck
during weekends after which they would go back to Ghana. For instance,
after kidnapping Bamigbetan, they received $50,000 (N8m) as ransom. They
went back to Ghana without any money.
“Rather, what they did was to give the
money to a bureau de change operator who then helped them to transfer
the money through an agent to Ghana.”
The suspects however said they were not members of the gang but only friends to the killed suspects.
Nwanyu said, “I am not a kidnapper,
China employed me to manage his restaurant in Ghana and I have been
doing that for two years now. I came with China, his wife and two kids
on Sunday because they said they wanted to renew their passports at
FESTAC.”
Another suspect, Emenike, said he was
not part of the gang. He said he was only released from prison last
Monday and was only at the wrong place at the wrong time.
The Indian victim, Changrani, however
identified the suspects as his captors. He commended the police for
rescuing him less than five hours after his abduction.
He said, “I have been living in Nigeria
for seven years and I work for a plastic-manufacturing company. On
Sunday night, around 12am, I was on Gerard Road, Ikoyi, when men in army
uniform flagged down my vehicle. They jumped into my car and pushed me
into the back seat.
“An hour later, they pushed me into
their own vehicle, blindfolded me. After some hours, they took me into
their house and locked me in a room and told me to sleep. Around 5am, I
started hearing gunshots and when the police identified themselves, I
screamed for help and they rescued me. The police did a fantastic job.”
PUNCH
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