Forest guards and local hunters in Igarra, Akoko-Edo Local Government Area, have killed three suspected kidnappers in a gun battle
The three suspected kidnappers died after forest guards and hunters embarked on a manhunt to rescue a kidnapped victim.
Sources said intelligence from a farmer aided the rescue operation and the subsequent killing of the suspected kidnappers.
Commander of the Edo State Security Corps, Sector 2, Igarra, Ayoola Abiola, said the victim was abducted at about 11:25 pm on Friday.
He said forest guards and local hunters mobilised and combed the forest behind the Central Mosque in Igarra before locating the suspected kidnappers at about 1:20 am on Saturday, using coordinates supplied by the DSS and information from the farmer.
He listed recovered items as three locally fabricated firearms, live cartridges, five mobile phones, including the victim’s handset, power banks, tramadol and charms.
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Meanwhile, the Coalition for Tinubu-Okpebholo-Nigeria has hailed the killing of three suspected kidnappers and the rescue of their victim.
It said Governor Monday Okpebholo deserves accolades for strengthening the state’s security architecture and intensifying efforts to combat kidnapping, cultism and other criminal activities.
National Coordinator, Precious Topa, said the report described the killing of three suspected kidnappers as an encouraging example of the role community-based security arrangements could play in protecting lives and property.
Twenty potential members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and one other person kidnapped along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State have been rescued.
After a concerted effort by security services, the victims were saved from the Amakohia-Ubi woodland in the state’s Owerri West Local Government Area.
Since then, they have been transported to the Department of State Services (DSS) Hospital in Owerri, where they are getting medical care and undergoing the required examinations.
