Kidnap suspect killed as Police foil attempt in Aba

A combined team of police from Umuahia and Aba Area Command Anti-robbery Squad Unit in Aba, Saturday foiled the kidnap attempt made of Kelvin Origa, 25.

Nigerian Pilot gathered that a member of the gang who sustained a bullet injury during a gun duel with the police was confirmed dead after he was rushed to the hospital.

The commander, Aba Area Com­mand of the Nigerian Police, ACP Rabiu Dayi told newsmen in Aba that other members of the gang, who are now at large, escaped with bullet wounds in a yellow Hiace bus allegedly owned by a young man sim­ply identified as Ossy and have since been declared wanted by the police.

ACP Dayi said that the gang, Fri­day, visited one Pastor Samuel Origa, who lives along Jubilee by Eziukwu Road and demanded to kidnap his son, Kelvin, who had just returned from China, believing that he had returned with huge sums of money.

The commander added that they parted with N270, 000 after Kelvin’s father agreed to provide the balance of the N1 million the next day.

“When they came back on Satur­day, the pastor alerted one of our men that the boys had come back demanding their balance. We dis­patched a combined team of Anti robbery Squad from zone 9 Umuahia and Aba area command to the scene.

“The kidnappers having sighted police team opened fire and the po­licemen retaliated. One of them in the process sustained serious bullet injuries; some went away with bullet injuries in their bodies. The injured member of the gang was rushed to the hospital and the doctor con­

firmed him dead.”

Pastor Samuel Origa, who the cor­roborated police report, said that the fierce looking men accosted him on his way home on Friday and request­ed that he hand over his son, who just returned from China, insisting that they knew his son came back with a huge sum of money.

He said that the gang of four kid­nappers left his house with N270, 000 and a handbag containing and some valuables and warned that they

would come back the next day for the balance of N1 million.

Origa said that they came on Sat­urday and demanded N2 million, in­stead of the initial N1 million. “I was in my parlour negotiating with them and unknown to them, I gave my phone to my son and instructed him to go and bring the balance. My son having gone out of their sight called the police who came and surrounded the place.

“It was on their way going home

when they noticed the presence of police, they started shooting the po­lice. There was a gun duel and some of them including the dead one sus­tained bullet wounds in the process while others were lucky to escape with the bullet wounds,” Origa said.

The ACP said that with the recent kidnapping cases in the last one month, more police patrol jeeps have been sent to Aba to help the police contain the situation.

He urged medical and native doc­tors to report patients with bullet wounds to the police and called on residents of Aba and its environs to be courageous enough to report any suspicious movements within their locality to the police.

ACP Dayi warned kidnappers who are still in the commercial city to relocate or face the full wrath of the law as no one caught would be spared.

He also thanked his men for their swift response