The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has said its operatives attached to Operation Puff Adder have arrested three ‘notorious’ suspects involved in the kidnap of Channels Television’s staff, Mr. Friday Okeregbe.
Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), DCP Frank Mba, in a press statement, Sunday in Abuja, said the suspects were arrested by the operatives acting on intelligence report on April 9, 2019, at about 6:30am.
He said the suspects: Hanniel Patrick, 29, from Akwa Ibom state; Abdulwahab Isah, 28; and Salisu Mohammed, 32; both from Kogi state, have made useful statement to the Police.
According to him, investigation revealed that Mr. Okeregbe was not originally the intended target of the vicious criminals but was kidnapped on March 22, 2019, at 07:45pm, while he was parking his vehicle at a location in Lugbe, Abuja.
Mba said investigation further revealed that the victim was taken to the kidnappers’ den somewhere in Karmo, Abuja, and kept incommunicado afterwards.
He said the Police recovered from the suspected kidnappers a locally made revolver gun, three live AK47 ammunitions, a battle axe, phones and masks with which they reportedly blindfold their victims. He said effort was being intensified to arrest other members of the gang still at large.
Meanwhile, the IGP has reassured the general public that the Police and other security agencies were doing everything humanly possible to overcome the challenges of kidnapping and other heinous crimes across the country.
He said the Police boss, however, enjoined the public to always avail the Police of useful information that could help in realising these objectives.
