Anambra Police rescue kidnap victim, arrest suspects, recover arms, vehicles


Police in Anambra State have rescued a kidnap victim, Ijideofor Attama.

Attama was said to have been kidnapped along Nnewi road last week, and a ransom of N10million was placed on his head by his kidnappers, before he was rescued.

A press release by the State Police Command’s spokesperson, DSP Toochukwu Ikenga said: “Anambra State Police Command operatives, on 17/5/2022 rescued a kidnap victim, one Ijideofor Attama, aged 32yrs ‘M’ from Igboetiti of Enugu State.

“Mr Attama was abducted on 14/5/2022 at about 10pm along Nnewi road in his Rava 4 jeep, by a gang of five armed men operating with a Toyota Sienna vehicle, with Registration number KGE 117 PZ Imo State, ash Colour and whisked away to an unknown destination.

“The kidnap gang were in fact already asking for Ten million naira ransom from the victim’s family but fortunately, the victim escaped from where he was kept and alerted the security guards in the area. The police operatives were also contacted and immediately came to his rescue.”

Ikenga said following the successful rescue of the victim, the police operatives arrested two of the suspects, one Chukwudere Eze, aged 30years, ‘M’ of Ogbunka in Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State and Raphael Obasi, aged 40years, ‘M’ of Arondizuogu in Imo State, while the operatives also recovered a brown Toyota Sienna.

Ikenga’s release further read: “In another development, on 16/5/2022, at about 4:30pm, the command, while responding to a distress call on the attack on the vigilante office, engaged some hoodlums in a gun duel along Ifite road, Awka, and in a bid to flee from the Police operatives, the gunmen abandoned three of their vehicles, one brown Lexus Jeep, black Toyota Corolla, without registration number and a brown Mercedes Benz, with registration number AA 274 EYF.

“Unfortunately, during the encounter four vigilante operatives sustained fatal wounds. The Police also recovered one automatic Pump action gun, thirty rounds of AK-47 live ammunition, six live cartridges and one live SMG ammunition.

“Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng has restated the Command’s unwavering commitment in the fight against crime and criminality in Anambra State and calls for continuous support, especially through timeous information to the police and other law enforcement agencies.”