Victor Akinkuolie, Ado-Ekiti
Three suspected kidnappers who were recently arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) attached to Ekiti State Police Command have confessed how they abducted a secondary school teacher in Ikere-Ekiti.
The teacher in one of the public secondary schools in Ikere-Ekiti, was whisked away in the presence of his family, while returning from his farm along Ikere/Ise-Ekiti road few months ago.
The trio, suspected to be of Fulani extraction were recently arrested in a forest at Ijan-Ekiti, Gbonyin local government area of the state during a routine operation carried out by the officials of the RRS in conjunction with the men of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) and the local hunters operating in the area.
The suspects, who gave their name as Abdullahi Musa, 38, Abdullahi Ali, 25 and Abdullahi Suleiman ,19, confessed to have been engaged in series of kidnappings including that of a retired civil servant and a farmer, Alhaji Jimoh Oloje, along Ise/Emure-Ekiti roads.
In separate interviews with our correspondent, they confessed that they belong to a seven-man syndicate, operating within Ise/Emure and Ikere-Ekiti.
The trio, who spoke in Hausa and Fulfulde languages claimed that their group recently kidnapped a teacher along Ikere/Ise-Ekiti, during which the victim was later released at Eruku, a boarder town between Ekiti and Kogi States after M4million ransom was paid by his family.
They equally claimed to have been responsible for the abduction of a community leader in Ijan -Ekiti early this year, while they revealed that they have been operating in the State since 2019 and has made success in series of kidnappings within Ekiti and Kogi States until they were apprehended by the police.
Confirming the arrest of the suspects, the Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State Command, Mr Moronkeji Adesina, said the arrest of the suspects is part of the move by the police in the State to wipe off criminals involved in kidnapping, armed robbery and other thefts.
The Police boss, in a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the command, Mr. Sunday Abutu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police DSP, said the step is part of the deliberate efforts to rid the state rid off kidnappers and other criminal elements.
He added that the suspects have been terorising the state for sometime, thereby kidnapping unspecified numbers of residents of the state.
The CP, Mr Adesina assured that other members of the syndicate, who are currently at large will soon be arrested as the Ekiti State police under his watch have begun surveillance operations across all the forests in the state.
