Police Rescued Kidnapped Chief In A Village Hideout

Oyo State Police Command team on Tuesday, rescued the executive chairman and founder of Bond Group of Companies, Chief Adebowale Omotosho, from the kidnappers’ hideout at Ajia Village, Egbeda Local Government Area of Oyo State.

According to the Nigeria Police Force, seven suspects of the kidnap were arrested: Bisi Babatunde (32), said to be on the wanted list of the police in Rivers State, Laide Shittu (28), Ajayi Olaniyi (40), Isiaka Kazeem, Alabi Olufemi, Oladipupo Abayomi and Ayobami Musa (23). The eighth suspect, whose name was simply given as Lucky, is currently at large.

Police recovered two AK 47 rifles, three imported pump action guns, three locally-made pistols, AK 47 magazines, as well as unspecified number of AK 47 ammunition and live cartridges.

Chief Omotosho, 78, was abducted by the kidnappers from his residence at Gaa area of Awe, Oyo State, on Wednesday, March 4, at about 7.30p.m. The kidnappers demanded $1million ransom.

However, the kidnappers reportedly collected N10 million as ransom, though the gang’s leader was said to have declared N5.5 million to other members.

The Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Mr. Muhammad Musa Katsina, said when he got wind of the abduction, he constituted an ambush squad by the operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Oyo and others.

“After engaging the hoodlums in a very definite shootout from midnight to dawn, their defence line was weakened and they all ran helter-skelter with a remarkable degree of bullet wounds, leaving behind their victim in a house. We arrested seven of them, while two escaped with bullet wounds, leaving a trail of blood,” the police commissioner said.

Mr. Katsina, thereafter, put traditional healing homes, hospitals and clinics on alert, asking them to notify the police if any of the hoodlums is sighted.

He described some of the suspects as itinerant kidnappers, saying that some of them came from Port Harcourt, Rivers State to join their partners in crime in Oyo State. He assured the people of Oyo State that the command can never be a breeding ground for miscreants