Police arrest two suspected kidnappers after victim escaped from captivity

Police operatives attached to the Rapid Response Squad, RRS, have arrested two persons suspected to be members of a kidnap syndicate operating in Anambra State.

According to a press statement by the state police command’s spokesperson, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the suspects were arrested in the early hours of Wednesday.

He said: “The arrested suspects belong to a kidnapping gang. The suspects were allegedly involved in a reported case of kidnapping, armed robbery and attempted murder where the victim escaped from a criminal den, in Umudioka, Dunukofia Local Government Area.

“They also kept the victim in one of their criminal dens while demanding ransom from his family members and friends. Fortunately, he escaped from their den and was debriefed accordingly by the police operatives.”

He said the two male suspects, Onele Solomon, aka Federal, and Simeon Chidera, aka Chaplet, both aged 23, and other syndicate members currently at large, specialise in luring their victims under the guise of selling land to them.

“The two suspects on May 31, 2025 abducted a victim, dispossessed him of his personal belongings and inflicted life-threatening injuries on him with a machete.

“Operatives have activated onslaught operations given the confessions of the two suspects currently in custody for the arrest of other gang members and to dismantle the criminal network in the area,” Ikenga said.