Enugu: Police rescue kidnapped victims after battling kidnappers, N40m ransom demand

The Enugu State Police Command on Sunday rescued four kidnapped victims in a forest after an intense gun battle with suspected kidnappers.

The rescue operation came after the kidnappers had allegedly demanded N10 million from each of the kidnapped victims.

It was gathered that during the operation, the police were assisted by Forest Guard and Neighbourhood Watch Group.

The spokesman of the Command, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, Daniel Ndukwe, said that operatives of the Enugu State Police Command serving in Igbo-Eze North Division, with active assistance from Forest Guard and Neighbourhood Watch Group, rescued four kidnapped victims, comprising two males and two females, after an intense gun fight with the kidnappers in a forest at Aishi-Ette in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area.

Ndukwe said: “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, 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 23rd of June 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 a ransom of N10,000,000.00 for each of them.

“The 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 of the Command, to contain criminal cases of abduction, kidnapping in the State.

“He charges them and all the Operatives of the Command to remain focused and sustain the onslaught against criminal elements, reiterating that the Police will never rest on their oars until the State is rid of unrepentant criminals and their activities.

“To this end, the CP has 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, in accordance with the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act 2017.”