Two days after a three-man kidnapping syndicate invaded a building at Millionaire Estate in Oniru, Lagos, and abducted two persons, crack detectives attached to the Zone 2 Police Command have smashed the gang.
In the operation that led to the arrest of the suspects, the two kidnapped victims, comprising a ten-year-old boy and the housemaid, were successfully rescued by the CSP Tijani Taofiq-led Zonal Monitoring Unit (ZMU), thereby truncating the syndicate’s tall dream of realizing a whopping N150 Million demanded as ransom.
The three suspects have been identified as Kwasi Samuel, 64; Nnachukwu Monday, 24; and Freeman Ekpebo, 23.
Oblivious of an insider’s connection in the kidnapping saga, making a report at Zone 2, the complainant, March 26, at about 6:00am, naively said that the family driver, 64-year-old Kwasi Samuel, was also whisked away by the abductors.
The narrative, however, took a different dimension with the arrest of the suspects, as investigation revealed that the so-called driver was the mastermind of the kidnap.
According to a statement issued by the Zonal Police Public Relations Officer (ZPPRO), SP Ayuba T. Umma, the ZMU operatives acted swiftly, utilizing advanced tracking techniques and intelligence gathering, and pinpointed the kidnappers’ hideout in the Ayetoro area of Ijanikin on the Lagos/Badagry Expressway.
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Consequently, on March 28, at about 3:40pm, the detectives raided Cozzy Hotel, Ijanikin, one of the the gang’s identified hideouts, and arrested one Nnachukwu Monday, in whose custody the kidnaped underaged boy and the maid were, and were safely rescued.
“In a coordinated operation, Mr. Samuel Kwasi, the driver and one Freeman Ekpebo ‘m’ were apprehended at Sun Era Hotel, Ijanikin, where they were allegedly waiting to receive the ransom. Investigation revealed Mr. Kwasi to be the principal suspect and mastermind of the kidnap”, the ZPPRO disclosed.
The statement further revealed that the 64-year-old Kwasi had confessed to demobilizing the car’s tracking device before the operation, even as the said car’s tracking device and a Knife were recovered from the hotel room at Sun Era Hotel, Ijanikin, where the suspects lodged.
The Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 2 Command, AIG Olatoye Durosinmi, has commended officers of the ZMU for their swift response to the distress call, while also appreciating the community for their cooperation and vigilance.
The police boss has, however, urged parents and guardians to be cautious and conduct thorough background checks when employing domestic staff.
“The Zone 2 Police Command remains committed to ensuring the safety and security of all residents of Lagos and Ogun states”, the statement concluded.