Vigilante group arrests 10 suspected kidnappers in Rivers
PUNCH
A vigilante group in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State has arrested 10 suspected kidnappers.
The kidnappers were said to have been apprehended on Tuesday afternoon along the East West road in Ndele, Emohua Local Government Area of the state, where they mounted a road block.
Our correspondent learnt that the hoodlums were members of a cult group responsible for the kidnapping of travellers along the East West road within the area.
It was gathered that the vigilante group known as ONELGA Security Planning and Advisory Committee had disguised as passengers in a bus after they were stopped by the bandits.
A source revealed that the hoodlums were immediately taken away to Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA, where they were paraded before the public.
The source, who is an indigene of the area, said, “They disguised as passengers in an unmarked vehicle. I guess the bus was travelling along East-West road.
Meanwhile, the OSPAC Chairman, Eze Goodluck Okoro, confirmed the arrest of the 10 suspected kidnappers, adding that the bandits had engaged his men in a fierce gun battle before they were apprehended.
He, however, disclosed that a member of the gang was arrested by his men on Wednesday, even as he maintained that those arrested would be used to get more members of the kidnap gang before they would be handed over to the police.
In a related development, the Chairman of Emohua Local Government Area, Tom Aliezi, has dismissed claims in some quarters that he had placed former cultists, who dropped their weapons, on monthly stipends.