We rescued kidnapped pregnant woman – Police

The police in Enugu State, south-east Nigeria, say they have rescued a pregnant woman from kidnappers’ captivity.

The police spokesperson in the state, Daniel Ndukwe, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.

Mr Ndukwe, a deputy superintendent of police, said the victim, Chinwendu Igwe, was kidnapped at about 9:45 a.m. on 22 April along Eke-Egede Road in Udi Local Government Area of the state.

The police spokesperson said a preliminary investigation into the incident showed that the pregnant woman was on a journey by road with two of her children from Lagos to her paternal home in Egede, Udi LGA, without assistance despite knowing that she was within her expected period of delivery.

“She got to Ninth Mile around 9 p.m., lacking a convenient means of conveyance, she boarded a commercial motorcycle, with the motorcyclist electing to transport her and her two children due to her state of pregnancy.

“However, while on their way, the abductors attacked them, beat up the motorcyclist, and abducted the woman into the forest, leaving the rider and the children behind, before a team of police operatives from the Ezinze Police Division of the Command that responded upon intercepting information on the incident, could get to the scene,” he said.

Rescue

Mr Ndukwe said the pregnant woman was later rescued on 23 April by police operatives.

He said the police conducted the rescue operation in collaboration with Neighbourhood Watch Group and Forest Guards following a tip-off.

The police spokesperson said two male suspects connected to the woman’s kidnap had been arrested.

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He said police authorities in the state had decided to withhold the identities of the arrested suspects for “investigation reasons.”

Meanwhile, the husband of the pregnant woman, Ekene Igwe, was earlier quoted in some media reports as saying that he paid N1.6 million as ransom to the kidnappers before his wife and newborn were released by the hoodlums.

But the police spokesperson described the report as “total misinformation.”

He also refuted a report that the woman was on her way to the hospital for delivery when she was attacked and that the motorcyclist rescued the woman’s two children after the kidnap.

Rescued pregnant woman delivers

Mr Ndukwe said the pregnant woman, who was already in her expected period of delivery at the point of the kidnap, was taken to a hospital shortly after her rescue.

He said the woman later successfully delivered a male child at the hospital.

The police spokesperson said the Enugu State Government has undertaken to foot the medical bills of the mother and newborn.

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Manhunt

The Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Kanayo Uzuegbu, has ordered a manhunt of other fleeing members of the kidnapping gang, Mr Ndukwe said.

The police commissioner, however, expressed disappointment that the pregnant woman had to embark on such a long-distance journey by road unaided and at such a late hour.

He urged residents of the state to exercise discretion and caution in such circumstances.