The Enugu State Police Command has rescued 21 kidnapped victims, arrested a suspect, and recovered a firearm during multiple operations aimed at curbing violent crimes across the State.
The Command’s spokesperson in a statement said the successes followed a directive from Commissioner of Police, CP Mamman Bitrus Giwa, for intensified proactive and intelligence-led operations against kidnapping and related crimes.
On May 23, operatives from Okpuje Division, working in synergy with local security groups, stormed a forest straddling Enugu and Kogi States. Eight kidnapped victims were rescued after a gun duel that left one suspect dead, while others fled with gunshot wounds.
A day earlier, on May 22, a joint team led by the Oji-River Area Commander rescued nine abductees from Uvuru-Ukpata forest in Uzo-Uwani LGA. The victims had been kidnapped along the Olo-Umulokpa Road and were successfully reunited with their families after treatment.
That same day, officers from the 9th Mile Division thwarted a robbery in Ekochin Layout, Udi LGA. A cut-to-size single-barrel gun and an expended cartridge were recovered, though the suspects escaped.
On May 21, two male kidnap victims were rescued in Amalla-Egazi forest, Udenu LGA, while a female victim was freed in Gariki, Awkunanaw, and her Toyota Sienna vehicle recovered. In both incidents, the suspects escaped, and manhunts are underway.
In another breakthrough on May 20, police operatives from Awkunanaw Division, assisted by Neighbourhood Watch members, rescued a kidnapped man held in an uncompleted building in Akwuke-Awkunanaw. One suspect was arrested, and ₦30,000 earlier extorted from the victim’s relatives was documented.
Commending the operatives and local security groups, CP Giwa urged continued collaboration between the police and the public. He further directed all officers to sustain momentum in intelligence-driven and community-based policing strategies.
