Kidnappers kill doctor, son after collecting N7.5m

Police on Monday paraded two men suspected to have been involved in the kidnap and murder of a doctor, Audu Benedict, his son, Iranum, and a family friend after collecting N7.5 million ransom in Benue State.

The suspects, Tehile Tsavbee and Gwa Tekula Henry, were paraded alongside 25 other suspects for offences ranging from kidnapping, robbery and illegal possession of firearms, among others.

Force spokesman Frank Mba said Tsavbee and Henry were part of a kidnap gang led by one Tena, who is still at large, that have been terrorising Benue.

Mba said the victims were abducted on their way to Abuja.

The gang also kidnapped one Veronica, a sister to one of the suspects, Henry, who was later released after a ransom of N500, 000.

Mba said, “This is the kidnapping syndicate that took Dr Audu Benedict, a native of Taraba State, his son Iranun Audu and a family friend who were on their way to Abuja, ambushed them on the way and killed them somewhere around Benue State. The family of the doctor paid a ransom of N7 million to these criminals. The doctor also raised a check N500,000 which one of the suspects personally cashed out in the bank.

Tsavbee reportedly confessed that he carried out the act, but Tena, his boss, carried out the killings. He said he did not know why the victims were killed.

He said he got N300, 000 as his share.

Mba said the ringleader of the group, Jerome Matthew, was in custody, adding that six AK-47 rifles and several other weapons were recovered from the suspects.

Prof, others rescued from kidnappers in Imo

Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) team, at the weekend, rescued four kidnapped persons, including a professor, from their abductors.

Prof. Ekezie Christopher, 72, Aminu Ibrahim, 55, Friday Udoh, 33, and Onyekachi Nwibe, 29, were said to be rescued unhurt when the operatives engaged the kidnappers in a shootout in the forest.

Police spokesman Orlando Ikeokwu confirmed the incident.

Police in Delta State yesterday confirmed the release of a medical doctor Wisdom Iboyitete kidnapped in Burutu council area of the state last week Sunday.

BREAKING: Gunmen abduct two Chinese expatriates in Ebonyi

Two Chinese expatriates working at a mining site in Ebonyi State have been abducted by unknown gunmen

The abducted Chinese nationals are employees at Greenfield Metals Nigeria Limited, which specialises in lead and zinc mining.

The incident, it was gathered, happened at Ihietutu, Ishiagu in Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State on Wednesday at a mining pit close to the company’s offices.

Chairman of the company, Henry Ahanaotu said that the gunmen first shot sporadically into the air to scare away workers before proceeding to whisk away the expatriates.

According to him the incident happened at the company’s mining pit at Ajirija mining site, 300 meters from the company’s Life Camp.

Ahanaotu, who doubles as the Managing Director of the company said a formal report on the incident had been lodged with the police command in the state.

He said the company has not made contact with the kidnappers

“The unidentified persons bearing sophisticated arms stormed our mining pit at Ajirija and shot severally before whisking their victims away.

“We are yet to establish the identity of the abductors or where they came from,” he said.

Police spokesman, Loveth Odah confirmed the incident.

Odah said the victims were abducted on Wednesday at the mining site adding that the Police has commenced investigation into the incident.

“We got the information yesterday.

“A detachment of our tactical team was dispatched to the area with a view to unraveling the true situation and also to rescue the victims.

“The team is yet to return to furnish us with relevant information about the incident.

“But I can confirm to you that we received a distress call from the area yesterday informing the police of an alleged abduction of two Chinese working in a mining site at Ihietutu in Ishiagu community.

“We are waiting for information from our men before we can make informed comments on the motive behind the alleged abduction.

“For now, we cannot say if the abduction was for ransom purposes or not because the abductors are yet to establish contacts with the company.”, she said

Odah, however, urged non-Nigerian nationals working in any part of the state to ensure they move about with armed security guards to prevent attacks and molestations from criminals and possible kidnapping or abduction.

This is the second kidnapping invoking the company this year.

In March, two Chinese expatriate staff were also abducted at the company’s Life Camp at Ugwuajirija.

They were later freed after an the company allegedly paid an undisclosed amount of money as ransom.

‘Give us N100m to free Bayelsa council chair’s father’

Kidnappers of 80-year-old Napoleon Alele, father of the chairman of Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Embeleakpo Alele, have demanded N100m ransom to release the octogenarian.

Pa Alele was abducted by yet-to-be-identified gunmen at his country home, Agbere, on May 8, 2020.

Also, kidnappers of Dr Wilson Iboyitete  in Burutu council of Delta State, yesterday demanded N5 million ransom for his release, a sum they cut down after asking for N10 million on Tuesday.

NTA manager abducted in Abia

The Assistant News Manager of Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) Aba, Mrs. Chinyere Okoye has been kidnapped by gunmen in Aba.

A radio presenter was kidnapped in the state less than three weeks ago.

Sources said Okoye was abducted in her own car at her house gate after closing from work on Wednesday.

The assailants have demanded an undisclosed sum as ransom, it was learnt. Military sources confirmed the incident.

It was learnt that her people on opening the gate, couldn’t see her; a situation that was said to have thrown them into panic as none of them could account for her whereabouts.

The woman’s husband was said to have on the same Wednesday night put a call across to his wife’s line, but the call was answered by one of the kidnappers who told him they would call him back later.

The abductors however reportedly called the victim’s husband on Thursday morning and demanded an undisclosed amount as ransom.

General Manager NTA Aba, Nwadi Elobuike who confirmed the incident to journalists expressed shock over the development.

She narrated how she left the station after the 7 pm news, about the same time with Chinyere only to be alerted of the development as she was about to enter her house.

The victim is said to be a staff of the Enugu NTA Zonal Office before she was recently transferred to Aba.

Police authorities in the state could not be reached for comment on the the incident, but a senior army officer with the 14 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Ohafia, who wouldn’t want his name in print confirmed the woman’s abduction and said efforts are on top gear for her rescue.

Meanwhile, journalists practicing in the state has called on heads of various security agencies in the state to ensure that the state was safe for all and sundry.

According to some of the journalists who spoke anonymously, the recent target and abduction of journalists in the state by gunmen is becoming worrisome and not in the interest of the state.

They appealed to the gunmen to ensure that they release their colleague unconditionally, stressing that as a low-income earner and one who depends on her meager salary for personal and family sustenance, Mrs. Okoye in this lockdown may not even have enough for have family.

Kidnappers demand N20m to free Nasarawa CAN chair

Kidnappers of Nasarawa State chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Joseph Masin, have demanded N20 million to set him free.

The cleric was abducted on Wednesday night at his Lafia home by assailants who came on motorcycles.

Thursday, the state CAN vice chair Pastor Tayo Samuel told reporters that the abductors had contacted Masin’s associates, asking for N20 ransom.

Also Thursday, Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Adamu inaugurated a community policing committee in the state to check the uptick in criminal activities in the state’s remote parts.

On the committee are representatives of traditional institution, civil society organisations, and labour unions, among others.

Adamu, represented by the state commissioner of police Bola Longe, said there was need to scale up the security architecture in the state in the face of rising crimes.

Longe said police were on the trail of Masin’s abductors.

Meanwhile, a student of College of Health Science and Technology, Keffi, Yusuf Isah Adi, has been killed in Lafia, the state capital, by machete-wielding assailants.

Two suspects have been arrested, it was learnt.

Kidnappers’ buildings demolished in Calabar

The Cross River State government has pulled down buildings said to be owned by kidnappers in Calabar, the state capital.

The demolition, ordered by Governor Ben Ayade, was carried out on Thursday by a joint team of security agencies and government officials led by the Senior Special Assistance on Security to the Governor, Mr. Ani Esin.

A mini-estate owned by Kufre Ekpo Eyo, alias Romance, the number one on the list of wanted persons declared by the government, was the first to be destroyed.

Kufre, still at large, is believed to be the leader of a cult group and a kidnap syndicate.

The demolition team also pulled down a brothel believed to be built  by another man on the wanted list.

A former Speaker of the Cross River House of Assembly, Hon. John Gaul Lebo, said the action of the state government is backed by statutory provisions under the Cross River State Anti kidnapping Law 2015.

Five arrested for kidnapping in Niger

FIVE suspects have been arrested by police in Niger State for robbery and kidnapping. Four persons they abducted were reportedly rescued.

The suspects were said to have terrorised residents of Kwamba in Suleja council of the state.

The suspects reportedly snatched N5.5m from one Abiodun Samuel, an official of Lion Seal Industries in Suleja on his way to make a deposit at a bank.

Police also arrested  Muhammadu Dauda, who was said to have confessed to being part of the four-man syndicate.

Police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun said three accomplices on the run were being trailed as investigation continued.

Ese Oruru’s abductor Dahiru gets 26-year jail term

Ese Oruru, the Delta State teenager, who was abducted in 2015 at the age of 14 and impregnated by a man from Kano State, Yunusa Dahiru, got justice on  Thursday at the Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.

The court, presided over by Justice Jane Inyang, convicted Yunusa (aka Yellow) and sentenced him to 26 years in prison for his criminal actions against Oruru.

Ese’s misfortune, which attracted global outrage, occurred on August 12, 2015, when Yunusa abducted her at the age of 14 from her family house at Opolo area of Yenagoa and took her to his home state, Kano, where he converted her to Islam.

The convict also forced her into marriage and impregnated her.

The minor, through the efforts of a civil society group, Kindling Hope Across Nations Initiative (KHAN), led by Kizito Andah, launched free-Ese-Oruru campaign.

This led to her rescue by the police in February 2016, and she was brought back to Yenagoa in March.

She was delivered of a baby girl in May 2016 while Yunusa was arraigned on March 8, 2016 at the Federal High Court on a five-count charge of criminal abduction, illicit intercourse, sexual exploitation and unlawful carnal knowledge of a minor. He pleaded not guilty to the charge read to him in pidgin English.

On March 21, the first trial judge, Justice Aliya Nganjiwa, granted him bail in the sum of N3 million with two sureties in like sum.

Justice Inyang acquitted the accused on count one but found him guilty on counts two, three, four and five.

The judge sentenced Dahiru to five years in prison on count two and to seven years each on counts three, four and five, saying the sentences would run consecutively.

She held that the failure of the defence team to produce Abdullahi Zarafat was “fatal to the defence”.

The lawyer to the defendant, Kayode Olaosebikan, pleaded with the judge to temper justice with mercy and give liberal sentence to the accused person.

Dahiru, who wore prison attire, broke down in tears after emerging from the court.

Following the verdict, Olaosebikan said the defence was not comfortable with the aspect of ruling that the sentence should run consecutively.

He said: “Though I’m not comfortable with the part of the judgment that said the sentence should run consecutively, we had some challenges during the course of trial.

“There were six other witnesses we needed to have called in this matter; two of them are resident here (in Bayelsa), four of them in Kano, but none of them was available.”

Olaosebikan said his client could appeal the judgment, especially because part of it ruled that the sentence should run consecutively.

In his reaction, the prosecution lawyer, Samuel Njoku, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) from the Force Headquarters in Abuja, expressed delight at the judgement describing it as “naked and simple justice”.

A former Vice-Chairperson of International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) in Bayelsa State, Deme Debra Pamosoo, said the judgment would serve as deterrent to other paedophiles.

Kidnappers demand N50m for kidnapped Navy Commander

The kidnappers that abducted a Navy Navy Commander who identity is yet to be ascertained are demanding a ransom of N50m.

Thne Navy Commander was said to have been abducted on Saturday along Owo-Ikare Road in Akoko North East Local Government Area of Ondo State while travelling to Abuja.

It was gathered that a military/police joint rescue team has been dispatched to the forest for possible rescue of the victim.

Kidnapping activities are rampant in the area as over 10 kidnapped cases have been reported.

Ondo Police spokesman, ASP Tee-Leo Ikoro, confirmed the abduction saying various tactical squads have been deployed to the area.

Ikoro said the police have requested support of host communities in the area to help checkmate and curtail criminalities along the highway.

Kidnappers abandon Army captain in forest

Kidnappers of a Nigerian Army captain identified as Gana have fled, abandoning the officer and other abductees in the forest.

The kidnappers were said to have fled as security operatives closed in on them.

Gana and two others were kidnapped on Tuesday by gunmen around Auga-Akoko-Ibilo, boundary towns between Ondo and Edo States

They were found at a forest at Ibilo in Edo State.

Spokesman of the Nigerian Army, 32 Artillery Brigade, Akure, Captain Ayorinde Omojokun, said a team of the Army and other security agencies rescued the officer without paying any ransom.

Kaduna APC vice chair, daughter kidnapped

Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have abducted the vice chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna State, Shu’abu idris Lauje.

Lauje was kidnapped alongside his daughter at their home in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Kaduna State Police Command’s PPRO, ASP Mohammed Jalige, could not be reached for confirmation at the time of filing this report.

A source close to the family said: “The APC vice Chairman was kidnapped along with Daughter at around 1:30 am this morning in his house at Kwanar Zango along Zaria-Kaduna Express.”