Rescue of kidnap victims in Ogun: How the battle was fought, won

By Emma Nnadozie, Crime Editor

Details emerged, weekend, of how Ogun State Police Command’s swift response to the abduction of five persons including a senior member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, and an Immigration Officer, by suspected herdsmen last Thursday around Ijebu-Ode, led to their rescue.

kidnap

The incident, which coincided with the brutal killing of a Catholic Priest in Enugu State, Rev. Fr. Paul Offu, sparked off protests and outrage across the country and beyond. Offu was the second Catholic Priest murdered in the state this year by suspected herders.

News of the abduction of the victims, which included a woman, was announced by the General Overseer of RCCG, Worldwide, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, while giving a talk at the Camp.

Vanguard learned that no sooner the announcement was made than the Inspector-General of Police, Adamu Mohammed, issued a matching order to police authorities in and around the state to fish out the perpetrators.

Operatives of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team, IRT; Tactical Team; men of the Mobile Force and Police Air Services were quickly deployed from Abuja to Ogun State and its environs with stern directives to comb all the forests and criminal hideouts in the area and rescue the victims.

Police sources said the mantle then fell on the Commissioner of Police, Ogun State, Bashir Makamma, to lead the strike force not only on record time, but to rescue the victims unhurt. The police team were also directed to leave no stone unturned in fishing out the perpetrators of the evil act.

In Enugu, the same mandate was given to police authorities to swing into action, especially with the protest by Catholic priests over the killing of their colleagues in the state.

Rescue

While the governor of Enugu State called an emergency security meeting where far-reaching decision were taken to fish out killers of the priest, the Police in Ogun invaded all the forest areas in and around the scene of the abduction.

Police sources said immediately after the abduction, the Commissioner of Police was alerted and given the telephone number of the female victim.

He reportedly called her number, she answered and after the Police boss introduced himself, the call was immediately cut.

The Police boss was said to have continued calling the line until a male voice answered and asked if he was really the Commissioner of Police, stating that he, the caller, is also the Commissioner of Kidnapping.

At that stage, according to reports, the Police boss started threading slowly by claiming that he was not a Commissioner of Police, but pleaded for the victims.

Vanguard gathered that while he was still pleading with the abductors, who spoke in a northern accent, his men which included the Deputy Commissioner in-Charge of Operations and other high ranking officers, together with men of the DSS and other security agencies were ready to invade the forest.

Reports had it that the team also worked with hunters, palm wine tappers, local vigilante groups and other security outfits including a Reverend Father as they all matched into the forest between Ijebu- Ode and Ore at a point called J5.

While the foot soldiers were moving into the forest, the Commissioner of Police and other officers and the priest were coordinating from the air in a police helicopter. It was learned that as soon as they started smoking the vast forest from the air, it scared the abductors and that was why the female victim, who happened to be the only member of the RCCG and a deaconess, was able to escape from them.

She reportedly met with the rescue team and briefed them about the movement of the abductors and that was how they were able to move in decisively and located the area where they kept the victims.

However, reports said they had a hitch because the area was very swampy and seen as uninhabitable, but that was where their targets were hiding.

Sources said the Police helicopter was so low that if the abductors had the weapons to shoot it down, they would have succeeded.

Smoked free

Luckily, Vanguard learned that while the Commissioner of Police, who was in the air with his officers, were smoking the forest, their efforts paid off as the abductors, scared, ran for cover giving room for their victims to show up. They were immediately rescued by the foot soldiers that were on ground.

In fact, sources said the victims said they were seeing members of the rescue team combing the forests, but because they were kept in a swampy area, the security men could not detect their whereabouts.

Sources said the three-day frantic search for the victims saw the helicopter hovering in and around the thick bushes of Ogun and neighbouring states for hours. They only go back to base to re-fuel and continue the search, which later yielded positive results.

Unconfirmed reports said the abductors may have been hit by the persistent fire power of the rescuers, but police authorities said they are yet to make arrests.

Meanwhile, it was gathered that to forestall further incidents of that nature, police authorities have commenced immediate de-vegetation of the thick bushes along the expressway.

Furthermore, they have strengthened locals in the area including vigilante groups, hunters, palm wine tappers and the youths to assist in forestalling further attacks on both motorists and transporters on the highway, while also advising passengers to ensure that their drivers do not park indiscriminately on the expressway.

Vanguard