By Adadareporters
Four kidnap victims have been rescued at Ette, Igboeze North local government area of Enugu State, Enugu State Police Command said on Sunday.
Daniel Ndukwe, the command’s public relations officer, in a statement made available to newsmen in Enugu, said the arrest was preceded by a gun duel with the suspects.
The statement read, “Police operatives of the Enugu State Command serving in Igbo-Eze North division, with active assistance from Forest Guards and Neighbourhood Watch Groups, today, rescued four kidnapped victims (two males and two females) after an intense gunfight with them in a forest at Aishi-Ette in Igbo-Eze North LGA.
“The kidnappers, most of whom escaped with varying degrees of gunshot wounds, abandoned the victims due to the superior firepower of the operatives. However, one of the victims sustained a gunshot wound in his left thigh during the duel, but was moved to the hospital He is responding to treatment and in stable condition; while others and all the operatives returned unscathed.
“The victims were reported to have been kidnapped at Umuopu village, along Ette/Ogugu Road, on 23/06/2023 at about 9.30 pm, on their way to Obollo-Afor, Enugu State, from Ankpa, Kogi State, with the hoodlums said to have demanded ransom of N10,000,000.00 for each of them.”
Meanwhile, the state commissioner of police, CP Ahmed Ammani, has commended the team for acting on the strategies devised and adhering to his earlier order on the massive deployment of personnel and operational resources to contain criminal cases of abduction/kidnapping in the state.
He charged them and all the operatives of the command to remain focused and sustain the onslaught against criminal elements, and reiterated that the police would never rest on their oars until the state was ‘rid of unrepentant criminals and their activities’.
The CP urged members of the public, especially owners of medical facilities, to report anyone sighted with gunshot injuries to the nearest police station for necessary action.
