The Ogun State Police Command has urged residents of the state to be conscious of new tactics deployed by kidnappers to get their victims.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, in an exclusive conversation with PUNCH Online on Saturday, said kidnappers now lay siege for their victims at their gates and attack when they are about to enter their homes.
Odutola, who disclosed that a manhunt has been launched for the kidnapping syndicate, stressed that the incidents have become prevalent in the eastern part of the state.
The spokesperson disclosed that areas where the syndicates operate include Sagamu, Iperu, Ikenne, Odogbolu, and Eruwon in Ijebu Ode in the Ogun East Senatorial District.
She said, “The tactics they (the kidnapping syndicate) adopt is to lay wait for their unsuspecting victims at the gate, and when their victims alight from the vehicle with the engine running, towards opening the gate, the armed hoodlums will suddenly emerge from their hiding spot and zoom off with the car and the remaining occupants in the vehicle.
“This is a syndicate operating within Sagamu, Iperu, Ikenne, Odogbolu, and Eruwon in Ijebu Ode.”
Citing recent incidents of such attacks, the PPRO said, “Last week at Ikenne, there was a case where someone got down from the car to open the gate. Immediately the man got down from his car to open the gate, criminals unknown to him were waiting outside. They drove the car away with his baby inside it.”
She added that a similar report was made by a member of the public about the kidnapping of his wife in the same manner.
Odutola added, “He reported that his wife, Nimota Busari and their two children were returning home in her unregistered navy blue 2010 Toyota Corolla from her shop in Ibepa Area, Sagamu. Three armed men intercepted her at the gate, snatched the car, threw the children out, abducted her, and drove off.”
The PPRO noted that people living in remote areas where the police may not be able to access easily were the targets of the syndicate.
She, however, urged people living in places with distant proximity to the nearest police station to avoid night movement.
“The CP directs business owners who live in quiet places, where immediate help cannot reach them or people who live at new sites to arrive at their homes before dark, so the police can study the situation better,” she added.
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The police spokesperson further noted that patrol teams have been deployed to the hotspots of the attacks while reiterating the command’s commitment to ending crime and criminality.
The incident occurred at the church located near Oriyarin village, Mowe, in the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of the state.
Odutola said the perpetrators fled through a thick forest behind the church.
Similarly, it was reported on March 8 that a school teacher, Adegbenjo Adelowo, was kidnapped in the Alabata area of Odeda Local Government Area of the state.
Our correspondent gathered from a source who pleaded anonymity that Adelowo, a senior school teacher of Alabata Community High School, Alabata, Osiele, was kidnapped on his farm located within the area.
Reacting to the series of kidnapping, men of the Ogun State Police Command in March, engaged in a gun duel with about eight gunmen allegedly responsible for the kidnapping of one Tunde Osifowokan, the farm manager of Flourishing Poultry Farm in Idowa, Odogbolu Local Government Area, killing five of them.
The state Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alamutu, stated that the police had been on the trail of the armed gang since the incident was reported.
Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, promised tougher time for kidnappers and other criminals disturbing the peace of Ogun State.