The Edo State Police Command says it has begun a manhunt for a suspected arms supplier to the Vegetable Market in Benin City, identified as Liberty and also referred to as “Chief Security Officer” by a suspect named Marvellous Israel.

This followed the identification of the kidnap gang members by a female victim, who was abducted alongside her daughter in Akoko-Edo Local Council. A joint team of military personnel and operatives of the Edo State Security Network (ESSN) arrested the gang members after the woman identified them at the community market, where they had gone to buy foodstuffs.

Israel told the police that the man who gave them the gun for the kidnap is called Liberty, adding that the sum of N1.5 million out of the N2.8 million recovered from him as part of the ransom payment was meant for Liberty.

However, the Edo Police Spokesperson, Eno Ikoedem, said the case linking Liberty to the kidnap operations was still under investigation, noting that the other fleeing members of the gang have been arrested in Delta State, bringing the number of those arrested to four, while one was killed.

She listed those arrested on June 20 to include a 27-year old lady, Gift Raphael, and two males, Wisdom Michael and Rufus Michael, and another who was arrested earlier. Ikoedem said all suspects have made confessional statements linking them to the vegetable market incident and other criminal operations within the state.