Police Foil Kidnap Bid in Lagos

It seems hope is not lost for our good old Police in Lagos. Maybe it is the Fashola effect. I think Marvel Akpoyibo is doing a good job. Well done guys. With the level of technology available, we should not be hearing of some types of crimes, like car theft, bank robbery etc....

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The Lagos State Police Command has smashed a sophisticated criminal gang and successfully aborted an elaborate and well-orchestrated plan by a gang of kidnappers deployed from the Niger Delta region to kidnap the son of a bank executive.
Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, Marvel Akpoyibo, made this disclosure at a press briefing at the State Police Command headquarters yesterday.

According to Akpoyibo, “the events that led to the arrest of the suspects, started on the 1st of June when the Intelligence Unit of the Command intercepted information that a group of persons had perfected plans to kidnap a high profile target in Lagos.
Members of the gang, said to have been recruited mainly from the Niger Delta area were said to have intended the kidnap of the victim from his office at Lagos Island and thereafter whisk him away to Ibadan, after which a ransom of N50 million will be made.”

The Police, Akpoyibo continued, “mounted a massive manhunt for the suspected criminals, intelligence and undercover operatives were deployed in and around the office premises of the target victim for high-level surveillance mission and our efforts yielded positive result.”
One of the suspects, Tommy Ebikeme, who claimed to be a reformed militant lamented that despite their well-laid out plans, their efforts were foiled by the men of Lagos State Police Force whom he claimed have superior network compared to any other state in Nigeria.

According to the Police Commissioner, investigations revealed that the kidnap plot was hatched and masterminded by Omotayo Mobolaji Johnson, a geologist and staff of Chevron Plc who contacted the kidnappers under a pseudo name Olumide.
The suspect, Jonhson, refused talking to the press without the presence of his lawyer. In another development, the crack detectives of the Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, Lagos acting on a tip off, have arrested two male suspects whose stock in trade is printing of fake currency notes of different countries.

The tip off led to the discovery and recovery of large quantities of currencies of different countries and in addition high quality printing and photocopying machines used for the unwholesome trade,assorted wooden and plastic moulds used for designing the fake currencies and a large quantity for already cut to size paper for printing. One of the suspects, Akeem Alor, aged 36 years, lamented that the person that introduced him to the business had traveled to London. He said; “the people who buy from us are 419ner’s who in turn sell to unsuspecting victims.

The money we make is even small; I sell a bundle of N100, 000 for as low as N10, 000.” Akpoyibo while commending the effort of the police said, “it is a signal to criminals in Lagos State that they have no hiding place as we have our dragnet and are intelligence-driven so there is no room for those with criminal propensity in the state.”He continued; ‘The State Police Force wishes to re-affirm its commitment to the provision of world-class security to the teeming citizens of the state. While we thank the state government for their immense support in our crime fighting efforts, we wish to appeal for continued cooperation of the citizens, particularly in the areas of information sharing.”