However, immediately the combat-ready policemen knocked on the gate of a massive building with high fence that hindered intrusion, a noticeable movement was suspected within. When the gate was forced open, the policemen were reportedly greeted by sporadic shots from a middle-aged man. The Police succeeded in disarming him after shooting him on the leg.
Still unable to fathom what the shooting was all about, the residents reportedly noticed about seven occupants of the building jumping through the high fence to the other side of the street, where they managed to escape. It was discovered, later, that the building had been used as a hide-out for kidnappers.
To confirm this, three men reportedly abducted from different areas of Lagos, were met in one of the rooms, blindfolded with their hands tied to the back.
To the amazement of all, when a search was conducted in the apartments, a catchment of weapons comprising three rocket launchers and three rockets, eight AK 47 magazines fully loaded with a total of 3,240 rounds of ammunition, four dynamites and assorted charms were discovered in the premises. Two of the suspected kidnappers were also arrested.
Crime Alert gathered that the bubble burst for the kidnappers, Saturday, after one of them, Kenneth Okonkwo, a native of Abia State, was arrested somewhere around Sango area of Ogun State, in his attempt to collect N2.8 million ransom from families of one of their victims, a medical doctor identified simply as Ene.
The victim, as gathered, was abducted while driving home around Afromedia in Okokomaiko area of Ojo, Lagos, and was forced into the kidnapper’s Hummer jeep, with an initial ransom of N4 million demanded for his release.
His apprehensive family was said to have paid the amount in Abule-Egba area but never saw their bread winner, despite an additional demand of N2.8 million from the abductors. To beat the prying eyes of security agents, the kidnappers, as gathered, trailed families of their victims on motorbike and would collect the ransom whenever there was traffic.
Having agreed to pay the additional ransom, 29 year-old Kenneth was said to have directed the medical doctor’s family to Sango, but unknown to him, he was being trailed by a team of mobile Policemen from Lagos. As usual, when there was traffic, Kenneth reportedly tapped at their victim’s family car with the intention of collecting the money only to be arrested.
Narrating his three days ordeal inside the kidnapper’s den, Dr. Godwin Ene, 66, a surgeon said: “Last Thursday, I was on my way home from the office when a vehicle pulled up in front of me and four men alighted fully armed. They told me they were from the EFCC and were there to arrest me.
Because I was a retired surgeon and I don’t engage in shoddy deals, I knew they were lying. They dragged me into their vehicle, blindfolded me and subsequently handcuffed me with a local cuff, before I was taken to an unknown destination where I spent three days.
During my stay, my captors asked me to contact my family and they told them that my ransom was N600million. I told them that I don’t have such amount of money but they wouldn’t believe me.
While they were trying to coerce me into paying the money, they told me my partner paid them N500million to kill me and he has given them N150million and that he would give them the balance when he saw my corpse. I didn’t believe them because I have no partner.
I am just a retried surgeon and I am only running a factory to keep myself together. But later I told them that all I could afford was N30million.
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