The Enugu State police command says its operatives have rescued a pregnant woman from kidnappers’ captivity.

The police spokesperson in the state, Daniel Ndukwe, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.

Ndukwe, a deputy superintendent of police, said the victim, Chinwendu Igwe, was kidnapped at about 9:45 a.m. on 22 April along Eke-Egede Road in Udi Local Government Area of the state.

The police spokesperson said a preliminary investigation into the incident showed that the pregnant woman was on a journey by road with two of her children from Lagos to her paternal home in Egede, Udi LGA, without assistance despite knowing that she was within her expected period of delivery.

“She got to Ninth Mile around 9 p.m., lacking a convenient means of conveyance, she boarded a commercial motorcycle, with the motorcyclist electing to transport her and her two children due to her state of pregnancy.

“However, while on their way, the abductors attacked them, beat up the motorcyclist, and abducted the woman into the forest, leaving the rider and the children behind, before a team of police operatives from the Ezinze Police Division of the Command that responded upon intercepting information on the incident, could get to the scene,” he said.

Ndukwe said the pregnant woman was later rescued on 23 April by police operatives.

He said the police conducted the rescue operation in collaboration with Neighbourhood Watch Group and Forest Guards following a tip-

The police spokesperson said two male suspects connected to the woman’s kidnap had been arrested.

He said police authorities in the state had decided to withhold the identities of the arrested suspects for “investigation reasons.”

However, the husband of the pregnant woman, Ekene Igwe, was quoted as saying that he paid N1.6 million as ransom to the kidnappers before his wife and newborn were released by the hoodlums.

But the police spokesperson described the report as “total misinformation.”

He also refuted a report that the woman was on her way to the hospital for delivery when she was attacked and that the motorcyclist rescued the woman’s two children after the kidnap.

Ndukwe said the pregnant woman, who was already in her expected period of delivery at the point of the kidnap, was taken to a hospital shortly after her rescue.

He said the woman later successfully delivered a male child at the hospital.

The police spokesperson said the Enugu State Government has undertaken to foot the medical bills of the mother and newborn.

The Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Kanayo Uzuegbu, has ordered a manhunt of other fleeing members of the kidnapping gang, Mr Ndukwe said.

The police commissioner, however, expressed disappointment that the pregnant woman had to embark on such a long-distance journey by road unaided and at such a late hour.

He urged residents of the state to exercise discretion and caution in such circumstances.

The goals of Correctional centres, otherwise known as Prison , are to strike a balance between punishment, rehabilitation and public safety while preparing inmates for a productive life after release.

But in Nigeria , these goals may have suffered severe set back as most inmates rather than being transformed into a better version of themselves, return back to the society hardened than they were before going to jail.

This was the case of a suspected leader of a kidnap gang arrested by the Rivers State Police Command under the watch of CP Olatunji Disu.

The suspect, Gift Ogbo (39), who is receiving treatment in the hospital, from injuries sustained during a botched kidnap operation , disclosed that he formed his gang while serving his 11 years jail term for a murder case.

Ogbo, who said he had never been to a classroom since birth, recalled how he roamed his village in Ndele, Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, during school hours, searching for opportunities to pilfer.

Due to his alleged villainous disposition, he was nick named ‘Akwa Ndele’, with parts of his body designed with bold scars.

Arrest

It was gathered that on March 29, 2024, Ogbo, led three members of his gang on a kidnap mission, in their operational tricycle, on Nkpolu road.

They reportedly intercepted a white Mercedes-Benz ML 350 4matic , parked on the road, with two occupants in the driver and passenger seats.

But in an act of rare bravery, the driver of the Mercedes who attempted to reverse and escape, hit a wall .
He reportedly drove menacingly towards two suspected members of the gang that stood in front of the car ,and ran over them.

The two suspects were Ogbo and another member, identified simply as Oyi-Baba, who were the gang’s muscle men. They were abandoned at the scene by their fleeing colleagues.

A mob was said to have descended on them and was at the verge of setting them ablaze when a Rapid Response Team that was contacted arrived the scene.

While Oyi-Baba reportedly died in the hospital, Ogbo , is still undergoing treatment, according to Police sources.

Prison gang

From the hospital bed, Ogbo, said, “ In 2012, I attacked one of my uncles during an argument over a parcel of land and he died in the process. I was arrested and charged for murder. While serving my 11 years hail term, I made friends with some inmates.

“Upon my release in December 2023, I returned to Ndele and rallied two old friends, Gift Kpanuku, aka Oyi-Baba and one Sunny, aka Onye-meme.

”We teamed up with two released members of the gang I formed in prison: Isaac and Ugo and immediately devised a plan to start a kidnap-for-ransom gang.

“ We stole from residents of Ndele to raise money for arms. We raised 370,000 and used it to purchase two locally made shot guns in Akwa-Ibom from Smart, a gunrunner I also met in prison.

Operations

“We went on the first mission on March 13, 2024, at about 8.45 p.m. We snatched a red Mazda 323 from a local taxi driver to use as operational vehicle. On that same evening, we met a man and his wife who parked their car in front of a doctor’s office at Nkpolu. We ordered them out of their Volkswagen Touareg, pushed them into the back seat of the car and drove off with them, abandoning the stolen Mazda.

“ But on the way to our hideout, there was traffic .While contemplating an alternative route, the woman jumped out of the car. In anger, I shot her husband in both thighs, and we sped off.
We took him to a compound in Eleme, took his gold chain, gold wristwatch , his phone and wife’s phone which she left . We used his ATM card to withdraw N530, 000.

One person was confirmed dead in a gas tanker explosion in Ita Osin, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on Saturday.

The spokesperson of Ogun State Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Florence Okpe, who disclosed this, said four vehicles were destroyed in the inferno.

A gas tanker truck was said to have suffered brake failure after, lost control, and hit the roadside culvert after which it went up in flames with the fire engulfing four other cars around the accident scene.

Okpe said that the deceased was a motor boy of the gas-laden tanker truck.

The tragic incident was said to have happened at about 5:30 pm along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

Okpe said, “The rescue team just confirmed the incident to me. The accident involved a Daf truck carrying gas which lost control and rammed into the culvert after which it went up in flames.

“Four vehicles were said to have been burnt and the only death recorded is that of the motor boy of the gas-laden truck. I am still waiting for further briefings.”

Men of the Ogun State Fire Service, Federal Fire Service Department, Federal Road Safety Corps, and security agents were said to have been on the ground to provide rescue operations.