Five members of a kidnap gang have been arrested by operatives of the Department of State Service for abduction of one of them, a journalist, businessman and a managing director of a Port Harcourt-based company.
It was gathered that the suspects had allegedly killed one of their victims in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.
A source told Southern City News that among the arrested kidnap suspects that have been terrorising communities in Rivers and Akwa Ibom State is a female.
The kidnap suspects were identified as Justice Onyekachi, Chidi Nwokoma, Precious Ndidi Alali, Gift Onyegbule Ogbonna and Uche Success Nwokocha.
The victims of the suspects are Charles Dimkpa of the DSS, Stanley Njoku (journalist with a radio station), Edward Aderejo and Chijioke Igbokwe.
The victims were said to have been abducted on May 4, 2016 and were rescued by the DSS on May 11, 2016 along Ahoada-Omoku road.
It was learnt that the DSS personnel, who was kidnapped in his residence in Rukpokwu, Obio/Akpor LGA, was a former chief security officer of the former governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi.
Southern City News gathered that the hoodlums were taken unawares by the DSS, who relied on intelligence in apprehending them in their hideout and rescuing the victims.
The suspects were on Thursday taken to the State Magistrate Court, even as a source from the DSS said they (suspects) could not be arraigned immediately following the discovery that a kidnap victim had died in their (suspects) custody.
“Having discovered that a victim had died in the custody of the suspects, the trial could not commence because there was need to redraft the charge against them (suspects) for proper prosecution,” a source told Southern City News.
It was, however, learnt that the suspects were expected to be in court as soon as the charge against them were rewritten for proper prosecution.
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