We escaped from police cell, form robbery, kidnap gang - Suspect
Eugene Agha, Lagos
Asuspected leader of a kidnap gang has said he and his accomplice escaped from a police cell in Abia State and formed the gang. The suspect, who gave his name only as Anaba, was one of those arrested by the InspectorGeneral of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) from different hideouts in Abia State. The police said Anaba and his men, while escaping from the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) cell, overpowered the policemen on duty and stole five Ak47 rifles and several ammunitions. During interrogation, Anaba was quoted to have said, “I was arrested early last year with some of my friends. I kidnapped a man with my car along Force Road and we took the man to our camp at Ogbor Hill, where he was kept for four days until a ransom of N500,000 was paid. “My share of the money was N150,000. I also took possession of the man’s vehicle, a Toyota Highlander, which I took to a hotel around Ogbor Hill. The police tracked the vehicle to where I was and I was arrested. I was detained at State CID, Umuahia and I led the police to arrest Akoma, who introduced me to kidnapping. “While we were kept in custody, the gate of the cell was locked with a weak padlock and we broke and opened it. We overpowered the police and stole five rifles and escaped. I went to Aba where I started robbing people with the guns we stole. “I recruited my friends to join me and started robbery in the state while my second group specialised in kidnapping little children and selling to some group of women. The women would buy from us and re-sell to couples who needed children for as much as N1.5 million per child,” he said. A police source told our reporter that detectives learnt that Anaba’s gang broke up and the other faction began to kidnap and sell children. “Anaba was trailed to his hideout at Ogbor Hill area of Abia State and arrested. Upon his arrest, an AK-47 rifle belonging to the police was recovered from him and he confessed to have carried out several kidnapping in Abia State,” the source added.