Officers of the Edo state Police Command have recovered two corpses from the forests along the Benin-Lagos Expressway, who were kidnapped last month from Ekiadolor.
The recovery followed the arrest of one of the kidnapers, a member of a 7-man syndicate who operates along the Benin-Lagos and Benin-Akure expressway, by the Violent Crime Response Unit VCRU who engaged them in a gun battle in the forest.
The state Commander VCRU, CSP Osagie Godspower led journalists and health officials into the forest were the corpses were recovered.
According to one of the victims, whose mother was among those killed, the kidnappers struck their home in Iyowa community, Ekiadolor abducting herself, her mother and the maid staying with them.
She narrated that three more families were later abducted and brought to join them in the forest, making a total of four families.
She explained that the were meant to trek round the forest at Night while they rested during the day.
According to her, “we were here at this spot for two days, when they asked my mother her age, she responded 66, they asked another woman and she said 45 and one small boy, who was 15 years. We initially thought they were going to let those ones go because of their age, but later in the evening they took them down this way and after some arguments they shot the other woman on the shoulder, and the bullet also met my mom.
“The other woman went quiet immediately, but my mom was still talking, I could hear her praying and later she started breathing heavily and later stopped. After about 5 minutes, they took us to another location where they also shot the boy through the shoulder and he died.”
The victim noted that her family later paid N11 million and brought other items, while other families also paid ransom before they were all released.
On her part the police Public Relations officer ASP Eno Ikoedem, explained that “we had a major first breakthrough in this case on the 19th of May, when operatives of the VCRU sighted four of the syndicate in the forest and enguagued them in a gun battle with many of the escaping with gun shot injuries. We had another breakthrough days after following their trail when we arrested one 24 year old Haruna while he was trying to take treatment for his gunshot wound and have since confessed to the crime and he led us here to recover the 2 bodies, as well as the body of the 15 year old boy which we have evacuated earlier.
“We are still on the trail of the rest and we are confident that in no time the Violent Crime Response Unit will roundup the remaining members of this kidnapping syndicate.”
Meanwhile the suspect 24 year old Haruna Musa confessed to being a member of the 7-man syndicate after a brief work controlling cattles in Ogun State last year.
According to him, “me na cattles I dey control, the Salah when past, no be this one the other one, one of my brothers call me make I come control cow for Ogun State, but no be Fulani get am, na ordinary person get am when Dem wan take do Salah. As Dem sell the cow finish for Salah, that my brother come say make I come say another work dey. Na so we take come here when I see say na this kind work. I fear say if I tell Dem say I no dey do that time, them go kill me, so I no get choice than to follow them.”
