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The police in Delta State said they have arrested a suspected member of a kidnapping and armed robbery syndicate terrorising Ughelli, Warri, Agbarho, and Sapele areas of the state.
The police spokesperson in the state, Bright Edafe, disclosed this in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Monday.
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Arrest
The police spokesperson said one suspected kidnapper, Olufemi Abaniwonda, was initially arrested following a kidnapping case that was reported at Isiokolo Police Station.
Mr Edafe, a superintendent of police, said the suspect confessed to being “a member of a kidnapping and armed robbery syndicate terrorising Ughelli, Warri, Agbarho, Sapele, and their environs.”
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The suspect led operatives to the Osubi Area of Warri and Ughelli town on Friday, police said. There, two additional suspects, Precious Urhobowin, 27, and Julius Okpako, 32, were arrested.
According to the police, Mr Okpako, a native of the Oviri–Ogor community in the Ughelli North Local Government Area of the state, owns a POS machine that the group used for ransom collection.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that suspects were responsible for the kidnapping of a pharmacist on 19 June 2015 in her residence in Ughelli and released after five days upon payment of an undisclosed sum of money.”
Similarly, the police have arrested a ‘notorious’ armed robbery suspect and recovered a tricycle and 16 mobile phones.
Mr Edafe identified the suspect as Lucky Oghenerobor, a native of the Olomoro Community in Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State, a resident of Agbarho town, and the leader and owner of the operational tricycle.
He named other suspects arrested as Olamide Fagbaibe, 24, a native of Akure in Ondo State, and Umeh Akpan, 37, a native of Eket in Akwa Ibom State, both residents in Ughelli town.
“Suspects confessed that they usually operate in Ughelli, Warri, Sapele, and environs,” the police said.
The arrests were made one month after the police in the state arrested three suspected members of an “interstate kidnap syndicate” in the state.
PREMIUM TIMES last month reported that Mr Edafe said that members of the syndicate operate in the South-south and South-east states of Delta, Rivers, Enugu, and Imo.
He identified the suspects as Idris Yakubu, 21, from Kwara State; Bello Amodu, 40, from Sokoto State, and Umar Mohammed, 38, from Kebbi State.
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