officers of the Rivers Police Command have rescued a popular Port Harcourt-based hotelier who was kidnapped and shot thrice by his abductors despite collecting a ransom of N25 million from his family.
Rivers Commissioner of Police Olatunji Disu told journalists during a press briefing in Port Harcourt on Tuesday that the hotelier was kidnapped on December 19, 2023, and was shot three times before he was abducted.
CP Disu stated that despite collecting a total ransom of N25 million as ransom from members of the hotelier’s family, the kidnappers refused to release him. They kept him in a den where he was nursing the gunshot injuries for three weeks.
The Police boss disclosed that members of victim decided to report their ordeal to the police, which led to the deployment of operatives of the C41 intelligence unit of the command in a manhunt for the kidnappers and the victim.
The CP narrated that on Tuesday 9, January 2024, the detectives acting on reliable intelligence, found out that the victim who was abducted in the Artillery axis of Port Harcourt was kept in the hideout of the kidnappers at the Agbon-Chia forest at Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers state.
He said the detectives stormed the hideout, rescued the victim and arrested one of the kidnappers who sustained bullet wounds during a gunfire exchange with the Police, while other members of the gang fled.
The State Police boss further revealed that the kidnappers applied a decoy of collecting the N25M ransom in food flasks to avoid suspicion and detection from the prying eyes of Police and members of the Public.
According to the CP, One AK 47, two magazines, Rx 350 and 330 Lexus SUV Vehicles were recovered from the suspects and assured that the Police were trailing other members of the gang to arrest them.
The CP also revealed that the injured kidnapper as well as the kidnapped victim are receiving treatment in the hospital.
The victim whose name is witheld for security reasons told journalists in the hospital that he saw hell while in the kidnappers’ den and was full of gratitude to the Police for rescuing him.
He also revealed how Officers and men of the Rivers State Police Command acted professionally and thanked them for the excellent job done.
