The police command in Anambra has rescued two female kidnapped victims and arrested four suspects in connection with the incident in Idemili South Local Government Area of the state.
SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state made this known in a statement in Awka on Wednesday.
Ikenga said that the rescue operation and arrest was carried out by police operatives attached to Oba Police Divisional Headquarters in Idemili at 11:54am on Wednesday.
“Police operatives attached to Oba Police Divisional Headquarters of the Idemili South local government area today arrested one notorious kidnapper and three other accomplices after a ransom of N200,000 was paid for the release of the victims in captivity.
“The operatives also rescued two female victims between the ages of 15 – 19 years in Oba, Idemili South local government area of Anambra State,” he said.
He said that preliminary investigation reveals that the suspect, one Ifechukwu Ibesimako, 19, male, who hails from Aboji village in Oba and other three accomplices lured their victims through social media chats.
The PPRO said that the suspects proposed friendship to them and then held them hostage until their relatives paid a certain amount to their gang before they were released.
He said that the arrest of the suspect and his accomplices brought more revelations of their criminal activities in the area and a report of another female victim who had already paid ransom and was released months ago.
Ikenga also said that Mr Nnaghe Itam, the Commissioner of Police in the state used the occasion to caution the teeming youths in the state to be careful of the people they meet on social media.
He said that Itam has directed the immediate transfer of the suspects to the Anti-Kidnapping/Robbery Squad of the command for discreet investigations. (NAN)
