Six kidnappers have been arrested by Hunters Group of Nigeria in Kogi State, who also rescued 19 kidnap victims at Kabba junction in Adavi Local Government Area following a tip-off.
Chairman of the group, Mr Inusa Bature, who disclosed this while speaking with newsmen on Sunday, said the suspects were linked to the recent kidnappings in the area.
He said: “We got the information that some travellers were kidnapped. We swiftly mobilized to the identified location where they had contact and engaged the criminals in a firefight.
“During the encounter, we overwhelmed the bandits and shot one of them, while others took to their heels. We later arrested six out of twelve kidnappers and we are optimistic that the remaining six would be arrested.”
Items recovered from suspects are two toy local guns, army uniforms and eight mobile phones, among others.
One of the arrested kidnappers said: “I am from Zaria in Kaduna State, while two others are from Katsina State. We were invited by Oga and Yello to take part in a kidnapping operation along Lokoja–Okene highway.
“We are twelve in number that kidnapped our victims and collected N1.5 million before we were arrested by the hunters.”
One of the victims, Mr Magaji Francis, said they were travelling to Adamawa from Lagos and on reaching Kabba junction, their vehicle was stopped by kidnappers and four of them were kidnapped.
“They selected four of us while they freed the driver and some passengers, they ceased our phones after they communicated with our families and demanded N50 million ransom,” he said.
He explained further that their captors were Fulanis and they beat them with a cutlass, starved them, tied them and threatened to kill them if their relatives fail to pay the ransom.
“We thank Hunters Group of Nigeria for saving our lives, it is them that God used to rescue us,” he said.
Another victim, Akangi Saidu, who spent three days in the hands of kidnappers narrated her experience, saying: “We were travelling to Lagos from Adamawa, we were kidnapped at about 3 am along Lokoja-Okene road, they collected our money and phones.”
However, the Chairman of Adavi Local Council, Mr Joseph Salami, who visited some of the victims at the hospital commended the HGN and other security agencies for their efforts toward curbing crime in the area.