Police rescue victims, neutralise two kidnappers in Enugu

Officer of Enugu State Command of the Nigeria Police Force, yesterday, neutralised two kidnappers in the state and rescued victims after a gun duel.

The Command’s spokesperson, Daniel Ndukwe, who disclosed this, in a statement, said the successful operation was carried out by a combined team of police operatives drawn from the NPF Special Forces, Awkunanaw Police Division and Tactical Teams of the Enugu State Command.

Ndukwe said the team led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in-charge of Operations, Olasoji Akinbayo, rescued the male victim on Sunday, August 20, at about 8:00 p.m., at Centenary, along Enugu/Port Harcourt Expressway, after a gun fight with the hoodlums.

“One of the miscreants, simply identified as ‘Baron’ was neutralised on-the-spot in the ensuing gun duel, while others escaped with gunshot wounds.

“The victim’s black-coloured Lexus 350 Jeep was recovered alongside one locally made revolver gun loaded with four cartridges and another locally fabricated pistol, belonging to the criminal elements.

“However, further manhunt of the fleeing members of the gang led to the discovery and recovery of the lifeless body of the second neutralised hoodlum, simply identified as Chukwunonso a.k.a. ‘Nolly’, in the morning hours of Monday, August 21, in a forest at the location of the gun duel,” Ndukwe stated.

He added: “The two neutralised members of the criminal gang had been on the watch-list of the Command, while the operational success was due to the operatives’ swift response to a distress call on the kidnap of the victim, along Agbani Road Enugu, on the said night.”

He attributed the breakthrough to the “policing thrust and renewed crime fighting impetus of Kanayo Uzuegbu, the new Commissioner of Police in the state”.

Meanwhile, the commissioner, while commending operatives for quickly adapting to his newly introduced crime-fighting strategies, tasked them and other officers of the command to sustain the tempo, stressing that there would be no breathing space for unrepentant criminals in the state.