Police kill 3 kidnappers, rescue Benue commissioner’s wife
The police in Benue State yesterday killed three suspected kidnappers during a gun battle and rescued the wife of the Commissioner for Land and Survey, Mrs Ann Unenge, who was abducted along with her driver four days ago in Makurdi.
The kidnappers thereafter placed a N51m ransom on Mrs Unenge.
The woman’s abduction occurred less than one week after two housewives were kidnapped at the New GRA in Makurdi.
It was learnt that the housewives regained their freedom few days ago after an alleged ransom of N6m was paid by their families.
However, in a gun battle with the police on Monday afternoon, three of the kidnappers were killed while the woman and her driver were rescued and taken to the hospital.
Governor Samuel Ortom who led members of his cabinet to the police headquarters where the bodies of the suspects were displayed, hailed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and his men in Benue State for the feat.
Gov Ortom thanked all those who volunteered useful information which led to the rescue of the woman and her driver.
The governor ordered the immediate demolition of the house where the kidnappers used for their activities.
The police spokesperson in the state, DSP Catherine Anene, also confirmed the arrest of five other suspects in connection with the abduction of the housewives.
She explained that the five suspects were arrested on August 1, 2021, and that during interrogation they provided useful information which led the police to trail the masterminds of the kidnapping to their hideouts at Nyiman Layout in Makurdi, opposite the BIPC quarters.
DSP Anene said, “One AK47 rifle fully loaded with double magazine and two doublebarrel guns fully loaded with ammunition were recovered from the suspects.
“Victims received gunshot injuries during the kidnapping but are currently receiving treatment at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi.
“Those five suspects were trailed and arrested at Welfare Quarters, Makurdi, and one locally made gun was recovered from them. Some suspects are still at large and are being trailed.”
A coalition of civil society organisations has backed the decision of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop the sale of dollars to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators.
The coalition, which included Council of Ethnic Youth Leaders and African Centre for Justice and Human Rights, noted that the operators have gone beyond their primary role of being retail dealers of FX to wholesale dealers.
Speaking on behalf of the coalition in Abuja yesterday, Meliga Godwin said: “These operators were making excessive profits from the allocations they get weekly from the CBN and this was to the detriment of the people, moreover, they have turned themselves to agents that facilitate graft and corruption in Nigeria and the CBN would not be expected to tolerate this.”
“It would interest you to know that a few owners registered and promoted multiple BDCs not because they needed expansion of their businesses, but because they took benefit of the weekly $20, 000 which the bank allocated to each of the registered BDCs hence these operators accessed the allocation through multiple companies and used same to aid and launder money,” he added.
Also, Lawyers in Defence of Economic Rights (LIDER), said the apex bank’s decision was a right step in the right direction towards stopping the act of “robbing Peter to pay Paul”.
LIDER, in a statement by its chairman, Barrister Chisom Nduka Edede, said: “With this noble decision, Emefiele and his team have fired Bazuka at corruption, money laundering and terrorism.”