By Suleiman Anyalewechi
The Akwa Ibom State Commissioner of Police, Baba Muhammed Azare, has warned kidnappers and other criminal elements to steer clear of the State or face dire consequences.
The warning comes on the heels of the arrest of five members of a notorious abduction syndicate, responsible for a series of high profile abductions in Ikot Ekpene, Essien Udim, and environs.
One of the arrested hoodlums, however, died at a medical facility, where they were being treated for injuries sustained during a grueling gun battle with Operatives.
A statement on Monday, March 10, 2025, from the State Police Command’s spokesperson, Timfon John, a DSP, informed that operatives from the joint tactical team stormed multiple criminal hideouts in Ikpe Annang, Ikpe Ikot Akpan and Ikot Inyang in Essien Udim Local Government Area of the State.
According to John, the operations were preceded by the receipt of credible intelligence on the criminal activities of the syndicate.
“Upon sighting the operatives, the suspects opened fire in a desperate bid to evade arrest.
“The gallant officers responded, decisively, engaging them in gun duel. At the end of the operation, all the five suspects sustained varying degrees of injuries and were taken to a hospital for medical treatment, where one of them died while receiving treatment”, the Police stated.
During the operation, the sum of three million, one hundred ,and thirty thousand ,six hundred Naira ( N3,130,600), strongly believed to be ransom proceeds was recovered from the hoodlums’ den.
Other items recovered, according to the police statement Recovered, three GSM button phones, One AK-47 riffle ,a G3 rifle, one Pump Action rifle, and a locally fabricated Dane gun.
Similarly, operatives recovered a bag of crayfish, one tambourine, an electric power amplifier and one conga drum.
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