The police in Ekiti State said on Wednesday that they were intensifying efforts on the search for the Chinese national abducted at Igbemo Ekiti in the Irepodun Ifelodun Council area of the state.
The expatriate, who was said to be one of the experts supervising the construction of Ilupeju-Ire-Igbemo-Ijan Road, was said to have been adbucted at Igbemo Ekiti while driving in a van and forcibly taken away by gunmen.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti Command, Sunday Abutu, who said the whereabouts of the victim had not been ascertained, said operatives of Rapid Response Squad led by Marcus Ogundola had since Tuesday launched a manhunt for the kidnappers.
Abutu said, “Our RRS men swung into action immediately the news was broken on Tuesday. They are combing all the surrounding bushes. We are sure that the abductee will be released soon.”
This was as a combined team of police and operatives of the Department of State Services arrested four men in Navy uniforms who posed as operatives of the proscribed Nigerian Merchant Naval Corps during their visit to the office of the Chairman of Irepodun/ Ifelodun Local Government, Shina Ogunleye, at Igede Ekiti.
Ogunleye, who said the arrest followed his information to the security operatives, said he suspected the men were on a kidnap mission.
Abutu, who said the police had begun investigation into the matter of the four suspects, said they would be charged to court on completion of investigation, adding that preliminary probe had shown impersonation.
The police spokesperson said, “The suspects said they were in Ekiti to set up a base of their security outfit in Igede Ekiti. This is a breach of the law as the body they claimed to represent had been disbanded and proscribed by the Federal Government”.
