The Enugu State Police Command said on Tuesday that its operatives attached to Unity Division foiled a suspected kidnap attempt at the Neke-Uno axis of the Enugu/Opi/Nsukka Road on Monday, October 28, 2024.
The police command said the incident occurred around 7:10 p.m.
A statement issued by the Command’s spokesperson DSP Daniel Ndukwe, revealed that during the operation, Prof. Oguejiofo Ujam, the kidnapped Dean of School of General Studies at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, managed to escape.
Media had reported that Ujam, a senior lecturer in the Department of Pure and Industrial Chemistry, was abducted on Sunday while on transit along Opi-Ugwuogo-Abakpa Nike Road.
However, Ndukwe explained that after an intense gun duel, the suspected kidnappers fled with gunshot wounds, abandoning one AK-47 rifle, two magazines containing 22 rounds, and a chain of 39 live ammunition.
Ndukwe said, “Further operations to hunt down the fleeing suspects the same night, led to a lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, reportedly kidnapped on October 26, 2024, escaping from his abductors’ custody.
“The Command refutes viral reports alleging the kidnapping of a Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) officer travelling from Benue State along this route, clarifying that no such incident has been recorded anywhere in Enugu State.
“Additionally, claims suggesting the Enugu/Opi/Nsukka Road is unsafe for travellers are unfounded and the product of scaremongering, which should be disregarded.”
Ndukwe, however, added that the police commissioner, CP Kanayo Uzuegbu, had ordered the deployment of additional personnel and resources to bolster both “overt and covert police operations” along the Enugu/Opi/Nsukka Road.