Police arrest six ‘kidnappers disguising as hunter group’ in Delta

The Delta police command says its operatives have arrested six suspected kidnappers in Uvwie LGA of the state.

Bright Edafe, Delta police spokesperson, announced the development in a statement on Saturday.

The police spokesperson said the suspects were arrested in a vehicle on Thursday by operatives attached to the Ekpan division in Uvwie LGA.

“The policemen, on suspicion, subjected them to a search during which three pump action guns, four locally-made guns, one long axe, seven expended cartridges, nine live cartridges, native charms, three cutlasses and two numbers plates were recovered,” NAN quoted Edafe as saying.

The police spokesperson said the suspects could not give a reasonable account of themselves, adding that they were taken into police custody for further interrogation.

Edafe said investigation revealed that the suspects were kidnappers operating under the guise of being members of a hunter group from Ovwian Aladja community in Udu LGA of the state.

“They sneaked into Ekpan community in a Sienna vehicle, robbed, and kidnapped unsuspecting victims and ran to hibernate in Ovwian Aladja,” he said.

“Following these findings on Friday, the DPO invited three victims, all of whom were at various times victims of armed robbery and kidnappings in the area.

“The suspects were placed on identification parade, while the victims identified them as the syndicate that robbed and kidnapped them.”

Edafe added that investigation into the development is ongoing.