How Ondo Police Rescue 3 Kidnapped Victims Without Ransom Paid 

By Niyi Olutunde, Akure

Ondo state police command has rescued three victims who were kidnapped On Friday, November 24 along Ore expressway.

While addressing journalists in his office, Akure, the state capital, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Olugbenga Adeyanju said the victims, Timilehin Akomolafe, Michael Popoola and Henry Usifo were kidnapped on their way to Lagos.

Narrating how they were kidnapped, Adeyanju said the kidnappers incepted and shot at one Mr. Komolafe between MTN mast and Irowi around Ore, killing him in the process while taking his son Timilehin, a student of University of Lagos to school.

According to him, after killing him, they made away with his son, while also killing a police officer who was an occupant of another vehicle on the road.

The kidnappers Adeyanju said had also taken Usifo and Popoola who were traveling from Port Harcourt to Lagos in a transport company boss and made away with the three victims.

The victims were, however, rescued without any ransom paid after men of the Nigerian Police and local hunters combed the bush around Ore, where they intercepted the kidnappers, engaging in a gun battle with them, and injuring one of them who escaped in the process.

Although no arrest was made, the police boss stated that his men were still around the vicinity to make sure they arrest the kidnappers, while the rescued victims are also giving the police useful information that will aid their arrest.

Meanwhile, the state governor, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has commended the state police command for rescuing the three victims kidnapped.

Governor Akeredolu also commended the local hunters along the communities on the expressway and the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) for collaborating with the police to rescue the victims.

The governor said he was particularly happy that the police rescued the victims unhurt and without any ransom paid.

He said the collaboration provided the intelligence and the information which aided the state police command to mobilise its personnel to the kidnappers’ hideout.

The governor, who described the collaboration between the police and the local hunters as a beautiful example of synergy for peaceful and crime-free society, promised to continue to provide necessary infrastructure and support for security agencies in the state for effective service delivery.

Akeredolu asked the people of the state to emulate the local hunters by volunteering information on suspicious movements and characters so as to make the state uncomfortable for unscrupulous elements.

He said the gallantry displayed by the
police and the local hunters has further confirmed his belief that with better understanding between the police and local communities, criminals would not find it easy to perpetrate their evil acts.