Police parade three suspected kidnappers in Osun

From Fisayo Akinduro, Osogbo
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Three suspected kidnappers were on Tuesday paraded by the Assistant Inspector General of Police for zone 11, Adeleye Oyebade, at the Zonal Command in Osogbo, Osun State capital.

The suspects, Jimoh Adamu Omotayo (32), who is the leader of the armed gang, Abdullahi Budah (52) and Umaru Ahmed (35), allegedly abducted their victim, Salihu Ahmed (46) in his farm at Agboye Village near Okuku, the headquarters of Odo-Otin Local Government Area of the state, around 8.00am on February 26, 2019.

Numbering about five and armed with locally-made single barrel guns, the suspects allegedly blindfolded their victim and took him to a forest in Ikare-Akoko, Ondo state, where they held him captive for seventeen days.

The kidnappers were forced to release the victim without collecting N3 million ransom they had earlier demanded from his family when they noticed that the police were closing up on them.

Addressing newsmen before the parade, Oyebade said the arrest was possible because of the upgrade in the police operations and the setting up of a technical platform for intelligence management by the zonal command.

He said: “The suspects were forced to release their victim without collecting the three million naira ransom earlier demanded following aggressive manhunt for them by the police, who they knew were closing up on them. But with the release of the victim by the suspects, the Zonal Technical Intelligence Response Unit led by SP Idowu Fapojuwo went ahead to arrest the suspects in their various hideouts in the state.

“Upon my assumption of duty as AIG in charge of zone XI Police Command comprising Ondo, Osun and Oyo States, I made a resolution to ensure drastic reduction of heinous crimes in the zone. Various security strategies were put in place to achieve this objective.”

The police boss said all these efforts coupled with the recent launch of an additional operational outfit, Operation Puff Adder, are beginning to yield the expected results as the zonal command within a space of time has arrested some suspects for various offenses. While some of the suspects have been arraigned in courts, others are still under investigations.