Police arrest six, rescue nine kidnap victims in Benue

Policemen in Benue State have arrested six suspects for kidnapping and fraud.

The spokesperson for the state command, Catherine Anene, in a statement made available to journalists in Makurdi on Wednesday said nine kidnap victims were rescued

Anene said that three of the arrested suspects were kidnappers and the other three were fraudsters.

The PPRO noted that the suspected kidnappers were responsible for the kidnap of some passengers of a Benue Links vehicle after killing the driver.

Part of the statement read, “On the 13/06/2024 at about 1700hrs information was received that, while a Benue links vehicle was conveying passengers from Onitsha to Makurdi, gunmen suddenly emerged from a nearby forest around Ojano-Oglewu and shot sporadically at the vehicle, causing the vehicle to stop at the forest.

“The driver of the said vehicle sustained gunshot injuries that led to his death while the passengers were kidnapped.

“During the investigation, nine suspects were rescued, while on 17/6/2024 three suspects, named Saleh Hassan ‘m’, Yakubu Alhaji Kande and Yunusa Idris all of Keana LGA, Nasarawa State were trailed and arrested in connection with the case.”

It added that the two suspected fraudsters were arrested at Kigh village along Naka road on Monday.

“During the operation, one Philip Matthew ‘m’ 25 yrs, Haribu Jafai ‘m’ 27yrs and John Ode Arubi ‘m’ 24yrs, were arrested,” the statement read.

The PPRO listed items recovered from the suspected fraudsters include two iPhones, five laptops, different ATM cards, and five 9mm live ammunition.

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