Taskforce arrests kidnap kingpin, 18 others in Kogi

By AHMED TAHIR AJOBE, Lokoja

A kidnapping kingpin, Ajode Agbichi and 18 suspected criminal elements have been arrested by a joint taskforce  comprising police, local vigilante, neighbourhood watch and hunters.

The gesture is coming a week after the arrest of 28 kidnappers, bandits and cultists by the taskforce in a renewed clampdown against criminal elements in the state.

Agbichi from Etiaja Olowa in Dekina local government area of the State, is said to be the leader of a four-man kidnapping gang that’s been terrorising residents of Olowa and environs.

Arrested along with him were three members of his gang including a woman, Ojochegbe Mohammed. Other members of the gang are Noah Simon who is said to be the chief of staff to the gang leader and one Okpanachi Daniel aka Emperor.

The gang was said to have been nabbed in an operation around Olowa by the joint taskforce. Also, 13 suspected kidnappers were arrested in Okehi local government area in the Central Senatorial District in two separate operations between April 19 and 21 2020.

The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Yahaya Bello on security for Dekina local government area, Ishaq Okolo who spoke to journalists on the arrest, said that the joint taskforce is making the area a hell for kidnappers and other criminal elements across the State.

He noted the arrest of the gang and others was effected in three operations, adding that three kidnapped victims were released, while three vehicles and three motorcycles were recovered.

According to him, the gang leader sustained bullet wounds following exchange of fire with security agents during the operation and is currently receiving medical attention.

He said the onslaught shows that Governor Bello is sustaining his administration’s effort to root out criminal elements in the state.

In their separate remarks, the chairman of the vigilante, Jibrin Ogohi, SARS Head of Operation, Felix Pastor and the head of hunters in Dekina local government area, Lamido Usman, vowed to continue to ensure that criminals are rooted out from the area. (Daily Trust)