Police arrest four suspects over ‘kidnap of Swiss national’

The Nigeria Police Force said they have arrested four suspects over alleged armed robbery, conspiracy and abduction of a Swiss national.

Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the force spokesperson, at a media briefing in Abuja on Thursday, said the main suspect posed as a gold merchant to lure the Swiss national to Nigeria.

However, on arrival in Nigeria on May 30, the suspects picked up the victim from the airport and conveyed him to a serviced apartment where they lodged and began to extort him.

“Subsequently, the principal suspect procured other members of the gang to tie down the victim and seized his iPhone while compelling him to contact his relatives in Zurich to send them the sum of US$2,000,” Adejobi said.

“They threatened to harvest his kidney and sell it if their demands are not met while he was held hostage in the apartment from May 30 to June 2.

“The suspects took pictures of the victim and forwarded them to the girlfriend in Zurich with threatening messages before she eventually sent the sum of US$2,000 to the suspects via Western Union on June I.

“Upon receipt of the report, operatives of the Nigeria police were deployed on the case and successfully apprehended the suspects.”

Adejobi said items recovered from the suspects include, “one locally-made single barrel gun, one iPhone 13 Promax with air pods, five different types of company stamp, one stamp seal, an envelope containing documents and five bricks of fake gold”.

He added that two suspects were also arrested over alleged criminal conspiracy and possession of illicit drugs in the federal capital territory (FCT), Abuja.

He said the suspects confessed to the crime during a police investigation, adding that they had a customer in Lagos who supplied them with the illicit drugs in large quantities.

Adejobi said the suspects also confessed to having bought the illicit drugs with the sum of N2.5 million and had sold over N1.5 million worth to the public.

The police spokesman said 20 packs of Tramadol and a Lexus saloon car ES350 were also recovered from them.