An operation involving several police units across Delta State has eliminated several suspected kidnappers following an ambush and firefight in a forest in Ughelli North Local Council, Delta State.

Operatives from the Commissioner of Police Special Assignment Team (CP-SAT), acting on intelligence, arrested two suspects, Abubakar Musa, 28, and Yusuf Sale, 25, in separate operations across Rivers and Imo States, who subsequently led officers to a secluded bush between Upper Agbarho and Oviri-Ogor communities to recover a cache of weapons.

According to the Delta State Police Spokesman, Bright Edafe, the police operatives were ambushed during a search of the bush by other gang members attempting to free the arrested suspects, resulting in a fierce gun battle.

Edafe stated, “The operatives engaged the suspects in a fierce gun duel, where the suspects and some members of their gang who came to rescue them sustained gunshot injuries,” the Police Public Relations Officer for Delta State Command added.

Two police officers were also wounded in the exchange and are currently receiving treatment.

He disclosed that the injured suspects were taken to the hospital but were pronounced dead while receiving treatment.

The police recovered one AK-47 rifle, two magazines, 43 rounds of live ammunition, one pump-action gun, and a locally made pistol.

A manhunt, he said, is ongoing for the remaining fleeing suspects.

In another operation on Sunday, men of the Delta Police arrested 12 suspected cultists and recovered a Beretta pistol in a raid on a suspected gang hideout in Jesse Town, in Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State.

Acting on intelligence following recent cult-related violence in the area, officers stormed a property on Sylvester Street, Ethiope West LGA.

Edafe disclosed that during the raid, one Mudiaga Obey, aged 20, and eleven other individuals were taken into custody.

“The operatives stormed a hideout where stockpiling of firearms, ammunition, and meetings is usually held before attacks on rival cult groups,” he said.