The Oyo State Police Command has detained 47 individuals suspected of various crimes, including kidnapping, armed robbery, rape, hijacking, and trailer diversion.
SP Adewale Osifeso, the command’s spokesman, confirmed this to reporters on Friday on behalf of Ayodele Sonubi, the state’s Commissioner of Police.
According to Osifeso, items recovered from the suspects included one AK-47 gun, two locally made pistols, two vehicles, 170 sacks of wheat, 1,130 cartons of adhesives, and N2.7 million cash.
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He claimed that the suspects were arrested at various sites throughout the state after terrorising the populace.
Speaking on the suspected kidnappers’ arrest, Osifeso stated that the kidnappers, who were armed, allegedly raided a herder’s camp in the state’s Sepeteri district.
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“On August 30 at about 1:20 am, they fired gunshots sporadically into the area on arrival at the scene and disposed the victims of their mobile phones, huge sums of money and some other valuable items.
“The suspects then proceeded to abduct the victims and whisk them away to unknown locations, where they contacted their respective family members to demand ransom in the sum of N50 million.
“In furtherance of the payment, operational, technical and intelligence assets were swiftly activated by the command in concert with some members of local vigilance groups in the community.
“During a manhunt for the fleeing suspected persons, two members of the armed robbery-cum-kidnapping syndicate were arrested in connection with the crime,” Osifeso said.
The police spokesperson further stated that two detained kidnappers got N2.7 million as their portion of the ransom paid by the victims’ relatives, which was recovered.
The police also paraded a 34-year-old man who reportedly raped a sickle cell disease patient.
He claimed that the apprehended suspect and one other person who remains at large threatened to kill the victim if she failed to accompany them to a residence.
