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By Emmanuel Adeleke
Men of the Ogun State Police Command have arrested a suspected kidnapper terrorising the Kara bridge end of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway in recent times.
This was contained in a statement issued by the command’s spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, on Sunday.
According to Oyeyemi, the arrest was made following a report lodged by a commercial driver at Warewa Divisional Headquarters that he was attacked by gunmen while plying an untarred road to avoid traffic on the long bridge.
He said the driver was coming from Ilorin in his Ford commercial car with registration number LRN 596 ZY and had seven passengers in the vehicle.
“While driving through the said access road, they were attacked by some unknown gunmen who made all the passengers run into different directions in the nearby bush and a passenger was abducted in the process.
“Following the report, the Divisional Police Officer, Warewa Division, Abdul Fatai Ogunsanya, led a joint operation comprising the Command’s tactical teams, local vigilantes, So-Safe Corps and men of the Oodua Peoples Congress for bush combing in search of the abducted man.
“Their efforts yielded positive results when the hideout of the kidnappers was located and the security operatives engaged them in a gun battle.
“At the end of the encounter, one of the kidnappers, Ibraheem Abubakar, who claimed to have come from Sabonganmu-Bompai road, Kano State, was arrested while others escaped with varying degrees of gunshot injuries, and the victim, 62-year-old Sheu Anafi was rescued unhurt,” he said.
Oyeyemi added that the suspect has confessed to being a member of a seven-man gang terrorising the stretch of the Long bridge in recent times.
He said the Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspect to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for a discreet investigation.
The police image maker appealed to members of the public, especially hospitals, to inform the police of anyone with a gunshot injury.