A 41-year-old leader of a kidnap syndicate, Morrison Godwin, have been arrested by men of the Delta State Police Command.
NIGERIACRIME gathered that the suspected gang leader was apprehended alongside other members of his gang who have been terrorising Warri and its environs.
The Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bright Edafe, while confirming the arrest identified other suspected members of the kidnap gang as Raymond Etchie, Felix Okoro, Oghene Ogaga Sylvester, Henry Edeki, Ominike Sunday, Jerusalem Sunday and Theophilus Akpofi, all adult males.
The police image maker disclosed that while the leader of the kidnap gang was arrested at Amukpe Area of Sapele Town at about 1100hrs, others were arrested on 26/11/20023 at their meeting point.
Edafe said the suspects were arrested for the alleged kidnap of a 43-year-old woman along Shell Road in Sapele on 19/11/2023 at about 9pm, while driving in her ML-350 Mercedes Benz.
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The victim was taken in her vehicle until the vehicle ran out of fuel and they moved her into their operational tricycle.
She was released on 22/11/2023 after the payment of two million naira (#2,000,000) ransom.
The police spokesperson while speaking on the modus operandi of the gang said, “Raymond Etchie ‘m’ 46yrs who negotiated and received the said ransom; Felix Okoro ‘m’ 40yrs who is one of the syndicate’s operational driver; Oghene Ogaga sylvester ‘m’ 45yrs who guarded the victim; Henry Edeki ‘m’ 35yrs, Ominike Sunday ‘m’ 23yrs, Jerusalem Sunday ‘m’ 35yrs, and Theophilus Akpofi “m” 29yrs.”
According to DSP Edafe, “All suspects confessed to the crime admitting their various roles and have been identified by the victim.
“The suspects during interrogation disclosed the location of the victim’s vehicle which was later recovered at Oghara Town.
“Effort is being intensified to recover the syndicate’s operational weapons,” he said.