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The Police, yesterday, paraded suspected killers of a Lagos businessman, Mr. Odidi Nweze with the kingpin of the gang giving chilling details on why they killed their victim.
Commissioner of Police, CP Umar Manko, who paraded the suspects told anxious journalists that the eight suspects, including a woman, were behind series of kidnap incidents both in Lagos and the neighbouring states.
He said the suspects who used an uncompleted building located somewhere in Okota, Lagos, as their hideout were in the habit of trailing their victim(s) to an obscure place, abduct, blindfold and drive them to their hideout in Okota from where they demand for ransom.
The suspected kidnappers
The police boss who linked the kidnapers to the abduction and murder of Odidi Nweze, however, absolved the Oxpharm Specialties Ltd, Satellite Town, the pharmaceutical store where it was reported that the deceased was kidnapped before his subsequent murder.
He added: “I am happy to announce to you that we have been able to smash a syndicate of kidnappers who have been linked to series of kidnap incidents in the state. They are about eight of them including a woman. The ring leader has been arrested and he gave his name as Kelvin Emenike 31, who lives in Port Harcourt.
“He normally comes to Lagos for his ‘business transaction’ after which he travels back to Port Harcourt; but we have been able to track him back to Lagos for the same ‘business proposal’ and that ‘business proposal’ is what you are now seeing. This group also includes a woman who manages their ransom and she is also responsible for disbursing the funds to the gang members.
“In possession of these hoodlums were one AK 49 assault riffle with 78 7.6mm ammunition, five magazines, one Toyota pick-up van, one Toyota Matrix vehicle and one Boxer motor cycle. With these, they abduct their victims, blind fold them and take them to their hideout, an uncompleted building somewhere in Okota; and when they finish with their victims, they pack them in their respective hideouts.
Unfortunately or fortunately too, we have a case of murder of a clearing agent sometime last month. The man according to information available to us, was kidnapped but he tried to fight back and he was fatally shot and he died. These suspects have also confessed to us that they were the one who perpetrated the crime.
Manko added: “Again, let me get one thing cleared: the victim, Odid Nweze, according to our investigation may have been going to buy some drugs incidentally at the branch of a pharmacy where killers of Cynthia Osokogu bought their drugs when he was kidnapped. The owner of the medicine store may not have knowledge of such dastardly act, it was just coincidental that some criminals were out to perpetrate their act.”
Giving details on why they killed Odidi Nweze, kingpin of the gang, Klevin Emenike said, the death of their victim was purely in self defence. He said: “Actually we did not mean to kill him, all we were doing was to make money. Although the parents later paid N1.2m out of the money we demanded, but we killed him even before they paid the money. What happened was that when he was kidnapped at Satellite, as we were going to Okota he attempted to disarm one of us so I grabbed the gun and fired him pointblank. He later bled to death because we could not take him to the hospital
