Three kidnap kingpins involved in the abduction of three residents of Egbe, Yagba West Local Government Area of Kogi State have been arrested.
The arrests were effected on Sunday evening. At the time of this report, two of the arrested persons are said to be in the police custody while the third suspect has been admitted in the hospital.
The abducted people were travelling from Egbe to attend a ceremony in neighbouring border community, Koro in Kwara State when the hoodlums ordered the occupants to come down from the vehicle conveying them.
Eyewitness account, however, disclosed that upon identification, only those three victims were taken away while other occupants of the vehicle were allowed to go.
Since the incident occurred a fortnight ago, it was learnt that the police and vigilantes had been combing the bush in the area to track the hoodlums.
However, their efforts paid off Sunday evening.
The kidnapped persons, two males and a female were released two days after.
Sources close to the families of the victims put the ransom paid for their release at N500, 000.
When The Guardian visited Egbe divisional police station, the officers on duty declined to comment on the arrests but a source in Egbe traditional council, however confirmed the arrests.
However, he did not state why one of the arrested hoodlums was taken to the hospital for treatment.
The refusal of the police officers to speak on the latest incident and arrests may not be unconnected to the incident of December 14, 2021 when robbers attacked Egbe and Odo-Ere communities, robbing three banks and killing seven persons in the process.
Although many of the robbers were later arrested and brought to the police station by a combined team of security agencies and Yagba West vigilantes, the invasion of the police station in Odo-Ere by angry residents who demanded instant justice had resulted in crowd violence and the death of two residents and a police officer.
