The police arrested one of the kidnappers in a
gun duel.
A police officer serving with the Ogun
State Police Command, Toyin Afolaogun, on Monday afternoon led
the rescue of two Chinese nationals from kidnappers in the state.
The gang, conveying their victims in a BMW car
with registration number CK 737 LSD, along Sagamu-Ikorodu road, were pursued by
the officer, a superintendent of police.
Police sources
said on Monday evening that the Assistant Inspector General of Police
(AIG), Zone 2, Mammam Tsafe, had called the Ogun State Commissioner of Police,
Okoye Ikemefuna, about the kidnap of the foreigners at Odongunyan area of
Ikorodu, Lagos State, en-route Ogun State.
Based on the information, the police
commissioner ordered Mr. Afolaogun, who is the Ogijo Divisional Police Officer,
to be on the lookout, as the kidnappers and their victims were reported to be
passing through his jurisdiction.
“I received the call just as we were rounding
off our security meeting in Sagamu. I immediately ordered the Ogijo DPO to
trace them because intelligence report had helped us know their direction,” Mr.
Okoye later told journalists on Tuesday.
Mr. Afolaogun, responding to the directive,
laid ambush for the gang; and on sighting them, reportedly singlehandedly
pursued them into a house at Shotunbo, about three kilometres off the
Sagamu/Ikorodu road.
“The DPO, SP Toyin Afolaogun, gave them a
chase alone and was able to sight them at Sotubo Village; he later got backups
from the area commander in Sagamu. The kidnappers headed into a very thick
forest where their den is located, not knowing that the police was behind
them,’’ Mr. Okoye said.
The police officers engaged the abductors in a
gun duel and arrested one of the gang members, while others fled with bullets
wounds. The two victims, Song Jiang She and Zhang Wen Xue, were rescued by the
policemen.
“After serious exchange of fire, we were able
to rescue the two Chinese without a scratch, at about 3. 10 p.m.,” Mr. Okoye
said.
The area was later cordoned by the police who
searched for the injured kidnappers, while the arrested one is being treated of
gunshot wounds.
Mr. Okoye also said that two locally made
pistols, large quantities of live cartridges, and the BMW car were recovered
from the suspects.
He solicited the cooperation of both orthodox
and traditional medical practitioners in the effort to apprehend other suspects
currently on the run with bullet wounds.
Mr. Okoye assured residents of the state of
their security, saying that the police was in control of the situation.
