Police kill abductors of Lagos council chief

Seven among the suspected kidnappers of the Chairman of Ejigbo Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Lagos State, Mr Kehinde Bamigbetan, have been killed by the police , it was learnt yesterday.

Two others were arrested alive by the crack team that carried out the operation.

Those arrested are: Ogbonna Emenike, 27 and Uchenna Nwanyu, 25, who were paraded alongside the bodies of their deceased members by Lagos Police chief Umar Manko in the afternoon, yesterday.

A combined team of the State Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) led by Superintendent (SP) Abba Kyari killed the suspects at Agbara, a Lagos suburb, shortly after they abducted an Indian, Vivex Chagrani and brought him to the hide-out early yesterday.

The Indian was said to have been kidnapped in Ikoyi area of Lagos on his way back from night outing.

The victim was rescued unhurt during an exchange of gunfire with the police when the two were arrested.

It was learnt that two other suspects were shot in the leg.

One of the suspects, Nwanyu said:  “My boss and his wife told me that they were into drug trafficking. I was surprised to see that he is the leader of the kidnapping gang.”

Recovered from them include four AK 47 rifles, 28 AK 47 fully loaded magazines, over 1,000 live ammunition, army uniforms, one CRV Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) marked, ABC 106 AE and a Nissan Pathfinder marked, No. AGL730AZ.

Manko said: “Based on painstaking follow-up, surveillance and tracking of Ghana-based Nigerian kidnappers who kidnapped Ejigbo Local Government Chairman, Hon. Kehinde Bamgbetan, a sitting Federal High Court Judge and another notable individual in Lagos, O/C SARS, SP Abba Kyari led a team of crack detectives to a suburb in Agbara, Ogun State, where the kidnappers have their camp.

“After 72 hours of waiting in an ambush, Kyari and his team cordoned off and stormed the house where all the kidnappers had gathered at about 3am. As a result, seven of them were fatally wounded during heavy gun battle between the kidnappers and SARS operatives”.

He said two of the gang members were arrested with arms charms and operational vehicles among others.