The Ogun State Police Command, at the weekend, urged State residents to be conscious of new tactics deployed by kidnappers to abduct their victims.
Omolola Odutola, Command’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), in a chat with Punch, said kidnappers now lay siege for their victims at their gates and attack when they are about to enter their homes.
Having disclosed that a manhunt has been launched for the kidnapping syndicate, she stressed that the incidents have become prevalent in the eastern part of the State.
The spokesperson disclosed that areas where the syndicates operate include Sagamu, Iperu, Ikenne, Odogbolu, and Eruwon in Ijebu Ode in the Ogun East Senatorial District.
“The tactics they (the kidnapping syndicate) adopt is to lay wait for their unsuspecting victims at the gate, and when their victims alight from the vehicle with the engine running, towards opening the gate, the armed hoodlums will suddenly emerge from their hiding spot and zoom off with the car and the remaining occupants in the vehicle.
“This is a syndicate operating within Sagamu, Iperu, Ikenne, Odogbolu, and Eruwon in Ijebu Ode,” she said.
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While revealing recent incidents of such attacks, Odutola said, “Last week at Ikenne, there was a case where someone got down from the car to open the gate. Immediately the man got down from his car to open the gate, criminals unknown to him were waiting outside. They drove the car away with his baby inside it.”
She added that a similar report was made by a member of the public about the kidnapping of his wife in the same manner.
Odutola added, “He reported that his wife, Nimota Busari and their two children were returning home in her unregistered navy blue 2010 Toyota Corolla from her shop in Ibepa Area, Sagamu. Three armed men intercepted her at the gate, snatched the car, threw the children out, abducted her, and drove off.”
The PRO noted that people living in remote areas where the police may not be able to access easily were the targets of the syndicate.
She, however, urged people living in places with distant proximity to the nearest police station to avoid night movement.
“The CP directs business owners who live in quiet places, where immediate help cannot reach them or people who live at new sites to arrive at their homes before dark, so the police can study the situation better,” she added.
The police spokesperson further noted that patrol teams have been deployed to the hotspots of the attacks while reiterating the command’s commitment to ending crime and criminality.
