Arrested Kidnapper Dies In Shootout During Gang’s Attempted Rescue
By Anne Osemekeh, Abuja
A suspected kidnapper, earlier arrested by operatives of the Delta State Police Command, has died in a gun duel between police operatives and his gang members who attempted to rescue him.
The State Command’s PRO, Edafe Bright, in a statement on Wednesday, said the suspect, Joel Ofoye, who was arrested in July, was cooperating in the investigation to apprehend other members of the kidnapping syndicate.
According to the PRO, Ofoye, on Monday, 12th August, led operatives of the CP Special Squad based in Ughelli South LGA of Delta State, to Ewu community in Ughelli, trailing a gun runner who supplies arms to the syndicate before any kidnapping operation.
While they were at it, the team came under attack by the suspect’s gang members in a bid to free their member, Ofoye. In the ensuing gun battle, the hoodlums who were overpowered by the Police fled with bullet injuries. However, the arrested suspect, Joel Ofoye, was accidentally hit by his gang members during the shootout and he was taken to general hospital Ughelli where he died while receiving treatment.
One Beretta Pistol with 4 rounds of live ammunition, 1 pump action with 9 rounds of cartridges, and 1 locally fabricated revolver pump action was recovered, while a manhunt is ongoing for the fleeing suspects.
Furthermore, painstaking but technically driven investigation by police operatives led to the arrest of 3 members of a kidnapping syndicate who have confessed to their crimes.
It was gathered that a 29-year-old kidnap victim (name withheld) of Kokori Community in Ethiope East LGA Delta State but resident in Sapele town, was kidnapped sometime in February this year, at his residence, by 5 armed hoodlums who effected a 5 million Naira transfer from the victim’s account to an unknown bank account.
The victim, upon regaining his freedom, reported to the Command, following which the Commissioner of Police, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda, directed the CP’s Special Squad to investigate and ensure that the perpetrators were arrested and brought to book.
The operatives, led by ASP Julius Robinson, acting on available information provided by the victim, stormed Sapele town on Sunday, 11th August, 2024 at about 4:30am and raided the apartment of one Sapiro (real name unknown).
A search led to the recovery of a Beretta Pistol and the arrest of his gang members: Tony Binitie aka “BOBO”, the syndicate’s kingpin, Ejiro Ewuba and Ayuba Hussaini, who received the victim’s jewelries and phones valued at millions of Naira. Investigation also revealed that the sum of 1 million Naira had been transferred to Hussain’s account from the victim’s account.
Additionally, police operatives arrested 5 suspected cultists after a complaint was received at the Ofuoma Division that some suspected cultists were gathered at Ovine Hotel Afiesere, and later moved to Ogbovwan Community, where they shot sporadically, killing a dog chained in the house, and shattering doors and windows of the house with bullets.
Consequently, the DPO Ofuoma division, CSP Patrick Uebari, led patrol teams to the scene. The suspects upon sighting the police took to their heels in different directions, but were given a hot chase by the operatives, who succeeded in arresting five of them, all suspected to be members of the black axe confraternity.
Three locally-made cut-to-size guns, 1 battle axe, 12 live cartridges, 7 expended cartridges, 8 phones, and two cross bags were recovered, Bright said, adding that efforts to arrest the other fleeing suspects are ongoing.
Meanwhile the police chief in the State, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda, has warned sternly that criminally minded individuals will not be allowed to thrive in the State as adequate deployments have been made to ensure that they are identified, arrested and brought to book.
“The CP also urged members of the public to always trust and report cases to the police, and also pointed out the fact that these suspected kidnappers were arrested six months after the kidnap because the victim trusted the Police and made available all useful information which eventually led to their arrest”, Bright said.
