Operatives of Enugu State Police Command on Sunday, 25th June, 2023, rescued four kidnap victims after an intense gun battle with their abductors in a forest at Aishi-Ette in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area.
The victims were reportedly kidnapped at Umuopu village, along Ette/Ogugu Road, on 23rd June, 2023 at about 9.30 pm, on their way to Obollo-Afor, Enugu State from Ankpa, Kogi State. Their abductors had also demanded ransom of N10,000,000.00 for each of them.
But The police public relations officer, DSP Daniel Ndukwe in a statement issued on Sunday night said the victims (two male and two females) were rescued by their men serving in Igbo-Eze North Division, with active assistance from Forest Guard and Neighbourhood Watch Group.
Ndukwe revealed that “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 who sustained a gunshot wound on his left thigh during the duel, was moved to the hospital and is responding to treatment and in stable condition; while others and all the Operatives returned unscathed.”
Ndukwe quoted the state Commissioner of Police, CP Ahmed Ammani, fdc, to have “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 charged 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.”
The statement further stated that 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, in accordance with the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act 2017.
