Five member of a notorious kidnap gang who specialize in abducting women and girls, sexually abusing them and obtaining ransom from their families, have been arrested by the police in Rivers State.
The Nigeria Police Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), CP Frank Mba, who confirmed the arrest of the suspects on Sunday in a statement, said the five suspects were arrested by operatives of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), following a “massive manhunt for the perpetrators of the recent trend of abduction of women in some states in the South-South parts of the country, especially Port Harcourt and its environs.”
In the statement, Mba said:
“The victims are subjected to series of sexual abuses and ransom demanded from their families before their release.”
The Force PRO gave the names of the suspects as “Osinachi Ngwakwe, 22, from Ubaka Community in Umuahia South local government area of Abia State, Sammy Junior Inordee, alias T-Boy, 27, from Gwarra Community in Khana local government area of Rivers State.
“Others are Epo-Bari Nwolu, 26, from Ogale Community in Eleme local government area of Rivers State, Yabari Gbarale, 29, from Gwara community, Khana local government area of Rivers State and Barine Yilda, alias Albino or Yellow, 30, from Gwara community, Khana local government area of Rivers State.
“Investigations reveal that the suspects target lone female drivers of posh cars as they drive out of offices, shopping malls or any vulnerable places.
“They, thereafter, trail them to lonely roads, abduct and take them to their criminal hideouts, where they sexually abuse them and demand ransom from their families before their release. They also sell off their exotic cars,” the statement from CP Mba said.
He added that items recovered from the suspects included four AK47 rifles, one double barrel shotgun and sets of military camouflage uniforms suspected to have been illegally acquired, which they wear to beat security checks.“Effort is being intensified to arrest other fleeing gang members and recover more weapons and stolen vehicles used by the suspects for their operations,” he said.
