Police arrest kidnappers, car snatchers in Edo
The Edo State Police Command has arrested two suspected kidnappers, Justice Ogedengbe and Ehis Momoh, who also specialised in car snatching.
Parading the suspects in Benin, the Acting Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Stephen Onwochei, told journalists that the suspects were arrested after the vehicle of a kidnap victim in Owerri was sold at Ewu in Edo State at the sum of N1.6m.
He explained that officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) discovered that the vehicle had already been registered when the buyer attempted to register it, leading to the arrest of the suspects.
Onwochei alleged the husband of the kidnapped victim died of cardiac arrest probably due to the trauma while the kidnappers released the victim after collecting ransom and brought the vehicle to Benin to sell.
He said one of the suspects, Ogedengbe, was arrested last year for allegedly snatching a Toyota Avensus in Kaduna State and was charged to court.
“I had earlier granted a press interview last year over a vehicle, a Toyota Avensus, that was snatched in Kaduna. Ogedengbe was arrested. He has his network of criminals and when they commit crime in other states, he collects the vehicles in Edo,’’ he said.
The acting PPRO added that he was charged to court in that previous offence and granted bail, saying that the matter was still pending in court and he had committed another crime.
“Ogedengbe said he only signed as a witness for the seller while his accomplice said it was Ogedengbe that brought the car to them to sell,” he said.