Five arrested after collecting N10 million ransom from kidnapped victims

Operatives of the Enugu State Police Command have arrested five suspected kidnappers and car snatchers who collected ransom from four kidnapped victims in the state.

The suspects were identified as Egbo Michael alias Ejima, aged 32, of Umuedeachi-Amechi in Enugu South LGA; Patrick Tochukwu Onwurah alias Jumping Chicken aged 37, of Umunze in Urumba South LGA of Anambra State, described as the coordinator and receiver of all the snatched vehicles; Mazi Chukwuebuka aged 29, of Lokpaukwu in Umunneochi LGA of Abia State, a mechanic and specialist in deactivating tracking devices installed in snatched vehicles; Ndubuisi Akanonu, aged 48, of Ezinachi in Okigwe LGA of Imo State (receiver of a snatched vehicle) and Nwadi Obinna, aged 43, of Lokpanta Ezemekwu in Umunneochi LGA of Abia State, specialist in changing the engine numbers of snatched vehicles.

According to the state’s Commissioner of Police, Kanayo Uzuegbu, who paraded the suspects before the media, the suspects and cohorts at large perpetrated several acts of kidnapping, armed robbery and car snatching in different locations of Enugu metropolis.

The CP disclosed that the suspects were arrested in January and in different locations of Abia, Anambra, Enugu and Imo states for conspiring with others at large to perpetrate multiple acts of kidnapping, armed robbery and car snatching.

He noted that ongoing investigations revealed that the suspects obtained ransom sums totaling about N10 million from four kidnapped victims, whose vehicles were also snatched and sold between October and December 2023.

While noting that further discreet investigation was ongoing, Uzuegbu disclosed that exhibits so far recovered from them included: one ash-coloured Toyota Corolla, one red-coloured Toyota Venza, one ash-coloured Toyota Camry 2.4 model and a black-coloured Toyota Camry (Spider) car.

The suspects will be arraigned in court once investigations are concluded, he said.