By Austin Ogwuda
Four suspected members of a notorious kidnap gang laying ambush for motorists in between the Jesse axis in Delta State and Igueleba community in neighbouring Edo State have met their Waterloo following a gun duel with the Police
Although the Police didn’t disclose the number of casualties on their own side during the fierce gun battle but merely said that one of their (Police) operational vehicles, was demobilized by the gang who shot at it.
Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Bright Edafe a deputy Superintendent of Police gave a vivid account of the incident in a press statement made available to The Town Hall Media.
According to the statement “due to the reported incidences of kidnappings along Jesse axis of the State, on the 12th September 2023, the State Commissioner of Police, CP. Wale Abass PSC, directed the deployment of operatives of the Special Anti-Kidnapping and Cyber Crime Squad {SAKCCS} and DOPS Bufallo team among others to the area.
On 18th September 2023, during a joint patrol along Jesse – Igueleba in Edo State, the team encountered a gang of armed bandits who laid wait in the bush to attack and kidnap unsuspecting motorists.
“The hoodlums who apparently sighted the police team, fired at the front tyre of the lead pickup van, thus demobilizing the vehicle. They were swiftly engaged in a gun duel by members of the police team. The armed men eventually succumbed to the superior firepower of the policemen who pursued them into the deep forest during which four suspected kidnappers were fatally wounded.
“One AK47 rifle with twenty-five {25} rounds of live ammunition were recovered. The wounded suspects were taken to the hospital for treatment where they were later certified dead”, the statement added.
