The hands of the law have caught up with seven persons suspected of having masterminded the spate of kidnappings that rocked Kwara South senatorial district.
The suspects were apprehended by personnel of the Kwara State Police Command and are presently in custody.
NIGERIACRIME recalls that there have been disturbing incidents of kidnapping in some parts of Kwara South senatorial district, especially in Ora, Oke-Ode, and other areas in Ifelodun Local Government Area.
Following the spike in the cases of kidnapping in the state, the command set up a team drawn from various units to tackle the menace.
Members of the team special include Counter Terrorism, Anti-Robbery, Anti-Kidnapping, Anti-Cultism, Anti-Narcotics, Explosive Ordinance Department (EOD), Police Mobile Force (PMF), and Police Medical.
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The team was handed the directive to comb the forests in the identified areas, arrest criminals, recover arms and ammunition, rescue victims, and clear the areas of criminal elements.
The operation began on November 1, 2023, and yielded positive outcomes, including the arrests of seven suspected kidnappers identified as Umaru Mohammodu, aka Yellow, Mohammodu Mohammodu, aka Kerimi, Garuba Abubakar, Iliasu Usman, Ibraheem Abubakar, Usman Haruna, and their informant, Umaru Bello.
“A cash sum of N1, 736,000 was recovered during a search of their hideout,” Commissioner of Police Victor Olaiya disclosed in a statement issued in Ilorin on Saturday.
“This singular effort helped result in the lull experienced in the activities of these undesirable elements until the incident of November 10, 2023, which occurred at about 8:30 pm,” he said.
The Commissioner of Police avowed that the command’s team is hot on the heels of the criminals.
“Meanwhile, the seven suspects have been arraigned in court and are presently remanded in prison custody. Efforts are ongoing to apprehend the perpetrators of the recent unfortunate incident,” he added.