Police Arrest Five Kidnap Suspects in Ekiti

The police in Ekiti State say they have arrested five suspected kidnappers during a bush combing exercise on Tuesday. The operation was in response to two attacks by bandits in Ekiti on Monday resulting in the death of two monarchs and the kidnapping of school children, a bus driver and teachers.

A statement by Police Public Relations Office for Ekiti State Police Command, Sunday Abutu, on Tuesday, states that five persons were arrested in the forest during a bush combing operation. “In a bid to flush criminal elements, especially kidnappers, out of the state, a combined team of the police, NSCDC, Amotekun, O.P.C and local hunters embarked on a bush combing operation through Oke-Osun, Ikere/Igbo-Okah to the thick forest around Iju/Ikere boundary. “During the operation, five suspected kidnappers, namely Usman Jelili, Mohammed Banded, Abubakar Aliu, Isah Abdullahi and Suleiman Abdulahi were arrested,” the statement read.

Mr Abutu said the suspects claimed to be herdsmen during interrogation, but it was later discovered that none of them has a cattle and no cattle was found with them in the forest where they were arrested He listed the items found with them in the forest to include two motorcycles, one cutlass, one jack knife/dagger and four phones. Mr Abutu, however, did not disclose whether any of the suspects was involved in the two incidences of kidnapping, which occured on Monday in different locations in Ekiti State. Besides the kidnapping of six school pupils, three teachers and a driver by unknown gunmen on Monday, bandits also attacked a vehicle conveying three traditional rulers, opened fire on them, killing two of them in the process.

Source: Premium Times