Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umaru Manko, yesterday said an arm of the kidnapping syndicate that abducted the Chairman of Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan last week has been smashed by the command.
He said this while parading six kidnapping suspects who had just relocated to Lagos from the South-East and have their main camp at Ikorodu area of the state.
The police commissioner said the arrest of the suspects and their subsequent parade was to show that the Lagos State Police Command has already swung into action to ensure that the wave of kidnappings in the state is brought to a halt.
According to him, since the council chairman was kidnapped, the command immediately opened investigations, which revealed that there are two kidnapping syndicates involved in the Bamigbetan saga; saying they have successfully clipped one of the wings, leading to the arrest of the six suspects while the other group, who are on the run are still been trailed.
“We have found a way of meeting up with the challenges of kidnapping and we have started recording successes. We want the public to know that we are making armed robbers and kidnappers very uncomfortable in Lagos and they are already planning to run away now.
“We identified two groups involved in Bamigbetan kidnapping. We are holding the first syndicate while the other group has fled the country. We have traced them to Ghana, but that is not a problem, we are still working on how to arrest them.”
He said a kidnapping suspect was traced to a hotel in Lagos but jumped from a two-storey building the moment he saw police officers approaching to arrest him. The detectives were said to be in company of his girlfriend, who made him suspect that he was up for arrest. He however died on his way to hospital.
He advised Lagosians to go about their lawful businesses, saying the command is already making Lagos a dreadful city for kidnappers.
He equally advised relatives of kidnap victims to keep faith with the police and stop panicking, saying when they succumb to fear, the kidnappers gain more confidence and when ransom is paid, their “business” is given a boost.
The paraded suspects include: Solomon Eze (aka Pastor), Ikechukwu Chedom, Sunday James, Obinna Egbugha, Christiana Ezinkwo and Emmanuel Iloakazi.
Manko said the suspects were apprehended following an intelligence report received by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, led by Abba Kyari, that the gang which just relocated from the South-East has concluded plans to operate in Lagos.
Hence, the operatives tracked down Solomon Eze and arrested him at Ajegunle area of Lagos.
During interrogation, he confessed to several armed kidnappings within Lagos State and led SARS detectives to one of their hideouts at Ikorodu where one ASK-47 rifle with serial number 6090 was recovered.
He equally led detectives to arrest other members of his gang at Surulere, Ajegunle and Ajangbadi areas of Lagos. All the suspects confessed to the crime.
Also recovered were two AK-47 rifles with serial number 28097 and 23451, 11 AK-47 magazines fully loaded with 30 rounds of live ammunition; concealed in their operational vehicle, an unregistered Nissan Sunny car.
I advise my Igbo brothers to look for more decent ways of making money than putting the image of the Igbo race in the mud. I strongly desist this criminal approach to making money ,there is dignity in labour.