(Owerri)
A traditional ruler, a pastor and six others in Imo state (names withheld), have been attested by the SARS operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Imo State Police Command for alleged kidnapping.
The monarch and his suspected gang are from Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Isaac Akinmoyede, while parading the traditional ruler his gang at the command headquarters in Owerri, alleged that they were responsible for the killing of two personnel of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency in the state a few months ago.
Akinmoyede said while the traditional ruler allegedly provided the gang operational vehicle, the cleric was the leader of the syndicate.
The police boss in the state said the operatives recovered N4.2m as part of the ransom the suspects collected from one of their victims.
The Commissioner of Police also disclosed that four AK-47 rifles, one rifle belonging to the slain NDLEA officers, 120 rounds of live ammunition, one Lexus SUV and other exhibits were recovered from the suspects.
He said the gang gave the monarch N3 million from the over N7 million they got as ransom in one of their operations.
He explained that on July 28, at Umuokuzu Awara in Ohaji/Egbema LGA of Imo State, SARS operatives, through painstaking and diligent investigation, arrested the traditional ruler in connection with the alleged kidnapping and other armed robbery incidents.
“Investigation further revealed that the suspect provided the operational vehicle, Lexus RX 330 with number plate, URM 404 EL for the kidnappers.
“Having lost the vehicle in an operation, the monarch was given the sum of N3 million to replace his vehicle by the kidnappers. It was further disclosed that the vehicle was not registered, as there is no record of it in the Federal Road Safety Corps database,”he said.
During an interviewed, the traditional ruler acknowledged that apart from the N3 million the gang gave him, he had been receiving money from them each time they returned from an operation.
He confessed that he knew that his vehicles were being used for kidnap operations.
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