Operatives of the Akwa Ibom State Police Command have k!lled three suspected kidnappers during exchange of gunfire in a criminal hideout, following the rescue of a lawyer, Emmanuel Ubengama and his niece.
Ubengama, a director at the Ministry of Justice, Abak Local Government Area outstation, and his niece were abducted last Wednesday evening, December 4.
It was gathered that the hoodlums had laid ambush for the duo along the Abak–Ikot Abasi Road, where they swooped on them on their way back to Abak, after visiting the children in school.
According to report, the matter was immediately reported to the police at Abak Division, a move that spurred a quick response from the Commissioner of Police (CP), Joseph Eribo, who drafted some tactical operatives to comb the area on Friday.
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However, the rescue efforts of the tactical team led the operatives to Ikot Ukpong village, the den of the kidnappers in Afaha Obong area of Abak Local Government Area, where the gun duel ensued, leading to the death of three suspects while others fled.
The victims were rescued when operatives of the Command stormed an underground tunnel in a forest, where the victims were held hostage, according to a trending video.
The operatives, acting on a tip-off, closed in on the place where the lawyer and his niece were kept and strenuously lifted a slab which was rolled over them by their captors, to bring them out of the tunnel.
“Come out all of you, you are saved in Jesus name,” a Police officer’s voice could be heard saying during the rescue operation.
The spokesperson of the command, ASP Timfon John, told journalists that efforts were on to track down and arrest others on the run to face prosecution as the CP, Eribo, has zero tolerance for crimes, especially as the yuletide season approaches
The PPRO warned criminal elements that nowhere in Akwa Ibom, and appealed to members of the civil society to collaborate by working in synergy with security agencies in the area of intelligence sharing to stem crimes in their domains.
