Men of the Ogun State Police Command have arrested a suspected kidnapper after two members of his syndicate were arrested at Onigbedu Forest in the Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, in a statement on Sunday, said the police combed the forest in search of fleeing members of the gang after the two suspects were arrested.
He added that the bush-combing led to the arrest of one of the fleeing suspects, Usman Aliyu.
He said, “The suspect was arrested following information received by policemen at the Ewekoro divisional headquarters that the suspect was sighted taking a commercial motorcycle at the Onigbedu area moving towards Papalanto en route to Lagos.
“On interrogation, he confessed to being a member of the kidnap gang whose two members were earlier arrested and a victim rescued from them.
“He informed the police that they were six in number, and that when two among them were apprehended, the other members ran in different directions into the forest. But since policemen were not relenting in the search for them in the bush, he decided to come out and take a commercial motorcycle out of that vicinity.
“He confessed further that it was their gang that was responsible for the kidnap of one Owolabi Abiodun and one Fakorede Kazeem at Kipe village, Idi-Ori, Abeokuta, on October 7, 2022, but Fakorede Kazeem was killed by the gang because he was unable to walk fast while being taken away in the bush.
“The gang, according to him, also kidnapped the duo of Adekunle Esther, 10-year-old, and Adekunle Adebayo, 15-year-old, on Olomowewe Street, Rounder, Abeokuta, on October 10, 2022.
“He confessed further that on October 19, 2022, the gang kidnapped one Mrs Famurewa at Abule Ijaye Soyooye, Abeokuta, at the entrance of their house after killing her 65-year-old husband, Festus Famurewa, and later released the wife after collecting ransom. All the victims, including the two kids, have come forward to identify the suspects.”
