Security operatives have gunned down more than 30 kidnappers, including members of the Biafra Auto Pilot, a breakaway faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by Finland-based fugitive, Mr Simon Ekpa.
The successful operation was confirmed in a statement released by the media office of Governor Peter Mbah.
The statement, quoting Police Superintendent Onochie Ezeh, revealed that a joint security task force led by SP Ezeh has been intensifying efforts to eradicate kidnappers and other criminal elements in the state.
One of the operations took place early Wednesday on the Ugwuogo Nike-Opi Road, where a seven-member gang was neutralized. These kidnappers had been using a large poultry farm at Ogbeke Nike as a hideout to keep their hostages until ransoms were paid.
SP Ezeh explained that this operation was part of a larger, sustained effort to flush out criminals who had been operating from various hideouts across the state.
“We were on the trail of these kidnappers for more than three months. On receiving a tipoff about suspicious activities in the area and accounts from former victims, we moved in. Upon sighting us, the kidnappers opened fire, and we responded with superior firepower, successfully overpowering them,” he said.
The security task force, established by Governor Peter Mbah as a tactical unit against kidnappings and the activities of unknown gunmen, has achieved significant success.
SP Ezeh noted that the squad had killed over seven criminal gangs in recent months. He stressed that the task force is committed to eliminating all threats in the state, and their operations have led to the identification and destruction of several criminal hideouts, including locations in New Artisan Market, Akwuke, Akegbe-Ugwu, and other areas.
According to them, the law empowers the state government to demolish buildings used for kidnap activities, including hotels and private facilities.
A senior lawyer, Chief Ani Iheanacho, who spoke to newsmen in Enugu, said the state has an existing criminal law which was amended in 2016 to accommodate a new section which empowers the governor to pull down structures used for kidnapping.
“We cannot continue like this. Yes, beyond going after the criminals, the governor must show both political and legal courage to go after properties used as hostage holding cells and bring them down irrespective of who the owner or owners are.
“The state must deter these criminals and those enabling their access to such buildings. That is what justice is all about. It’s justice to the kidnap victims; justice to the family of the victims, and justice to the society at large,” the legal practitioner submitted.
One of the rescued kidnap survivors, Dr Kate Pamela, said she was traumatized by the ugly experiences at the hands of the kidnappers.
“Each time I pass through that poultry, I feel I have been denied justice by still allowing it to operate. They kidnapped us and kept us there for five days. They even killed two of the victims because their families could only afford ten million naira each against the fifty million naira demanded. Notwithstanding that I was able to identify the bodies of three of the kidnappers when they were killed, I still feel that the area should be cleared.
“Government must ensure justice by turning that place to a landfill,” Dr Pamela fumed. According to them, the law empowers the state government to demolish buildings used for kidnap activities, including hotels and private facilities.
A senior lawyer, Chief Ani Iheanacho, who spoke to newsmen in Enugu, said the state has an existing criminal law which was amended in 2016 to accommodate a new section which empowers the governor to pull down structures used for kidnapping.
“We cannot continue like this. Yes, beyond going after the criminals, the governor must show both political and legal courage to go after properties used as hostage holding cells and bring them down irrespective of who the owner or owners are.
“The state must deter these criminals and those enabling their access to such buildings. That is what justice is all about. It’s justice to the kidnap victims; justice to the family of the victims, and justice to the society at large,” the legal practitioner submitted.