‘I Don’t Know How I Spent My Share Of Ransom’ Kidnapper Cries After Arrest

A 43-year-old suspected kidnapper has been arrested by men of the Anti Kidnapping And Cybercrime Unit of the Edo state police command.

The suspect, Uhunoma Aireretianokhuo, has been on the police wanted list since December 2020.

Uhunoma and his cohorts, Osamede Agho, Idemudia Aigbe, popularly called ” Hercules”, had in December 2020 kidnapped a businesswoman MRS Loveth Okhomina at Upper Siluko road, Egor quarters in Benin city, Edo state.

The woman was taken to a forest in Utoka village in the Edo state’s Ovia North-East local government area.

She was said to jave spent spent five days in the thick forest.

She was later relocated to a house around Egor quarters in Benin, where she was handed over to another cohort, Loveth Ada.

The hoodlums then opened a negotiation with the family members and collected three million naira ransom for her release.

Osamede Agho, Idemudia Aigbe and Loveth Ada were arrested by the operatives of the Anti Kidnapping And Cybercrime Unit of the Edo state police command in December 2020 while the current suspect Uhunoma escaped.

Three suspects were charged to court by the police and were all remanded in the Oko Correctional centre (Prison) in Benin city.

But in July 2021, the police got credible information that the said Uhunoma Aireretianokhuo was in a hideout in upper Sakponba road, Benin city.

The police swooped on the hideout and arrested him.

The suspect said, “I am a member of the gang that kidnapped a woman at Upper Siluko road.

“Out of the three Million Naira the woman paid as ransom, I got eight hundred thousand Naira. I can not actually account how I spent my share”.

In a separate incident, a combined team of the police and the vigilante members have rescued six kidnapped victims on the ever-busy Benin-Ehor road in Edo state.

The victims who were travelling on a Toyota Sienna bus with registration number EDO RRU 780 NE were kidnapped at Igue Ozevbaru Community around in Uhumwuode local government area of Edo state.

The driver and all the passengers were forcefully led into the bush at gunpoint while the said kidnappers called the individual family members for ransom.

The police and members of the vigilante group in the locality got wind of the incident and mobilised into the forest and rescued all the kidnapped victims.

The identities of the rescued victims were given as Pastor Samuel Ojiofoh, Mrs Asotie Gregory, Mr Iredia Justice, Johnbull Odiase, Miss Mercy Ikpefuan and the driver, Mr Eric Ehiagwina.

Contacted, Edo state Police Public Relations Officer SP Bello Kontongs said, ” we have arrested two of the kidnappers, and more will be arrested.

“I can assure you that we will keep on with our vigil in all highways linking Edo state. We want people to travel without fear of attack on the roads.

He said all the rescued victims had been reunited with their families.