Police rescue kidnap victims, launch manhunt for abductors

The police in Enugu State, South-east Nigeria, say they have rescued some kidnap victims in the state.

The police spokesperson in the state, Daniel Ndukwe, in a statement on Wednesday, said the victims were kidnapped on Sunday at about 4:55 p.m. along Eke-Ebe Road in Udi Local Government Area of the state.

Mr Ndukwe, a deputy superintendent of police, said the victims were rescued by operatives serving in Ezinze Police Division in collaboration with a Neighbourhood Watch Group.

The rescue occurred later on the same day after the kidnap of the victims, he said.

The police spokesperson said the combined team rescued the victims after a shootout with the abductors which prompted them to abandon the victims and fled.

“The immediate rescue is due to the team’s swift response upon receipt of information alleging that the victims, who were plying the road in two Mercedes Benz 4Matic Jeeps, were attacked and abducted into the forest,” he said.

Mr Ndukwe did not mention the number of victims that were rescued by the combined team.

But a photograph uploaded on the official X handle of the police in the state showed about eight people.

“However, further operations to hunt down the abductors are ongoing,” the spokesperson said.

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Viral video

Meanwhile, a video clip which surfaced shortly after the victims were reported kidnapped has gone viral on social media.

In the clip, seen by PREMIUM TIMES, an unidentified man was heard accusing police operatives of refusing to enter a nearby forest where the abductors reportedly fled into with the victims to rescue them.

The man, who claimed that his uncle was among the victims, filmed some armed police operatives standing at the scene of the attack.

Reacting, the Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Kanayo Uzuegbu, condemned the viral video clip and described it as an “unfortunate act of mischief” against police operatives, Mr Ndukwe said.

Mr Uzuegbu said the clip was also “aimed at maligning and detracting the police” from fighting criminals in the state.

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The police commissioner said the operatives in the viral clip were among another police team that responded to the incident.

He explained the operatives did not immediately enter the forest to rescue the victims because they had no “clear knowledge of the location” of the first responding team.

“This is even when the operatives had only arrived at the scene and were awaiting necessary intelligence-guidance before proceeding into the forest to avoid any form of collateral damage,” he said.

The police chief stressed that the video clip was clearly “a gimmick intended to misinform and mislead the public.”

He, however, said the police in Enugu State will not be distracted in their quest to rid the state of unrepentant criminals and their activities.