Police have rescued 10 kidnap victims who were intercepted by hoodlums in Edo State recently. The victims were said to have been travelling from one of the eastern states to Abuja when a group of hoodlums suspected to be kidnappers stopped them and took them to a bush in the Okpella area of Edo State.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Edo State, SP Kontongs Bello, said in a statement that operatives of the command with the help of local vigilantes swung into action to rescue the victims in the bush.
He noted that the kidnappers noticing the team of operatives in their den hurriedly abandoned the victims and escaped into the thick forest.
He said: “Nine of the kidnapped victims were all rescued unhurt. They were advised to continue their journey after profiling them”.
Bello added that the Edo State Commissioner of Police, CP Philip Aliyu Ogbadu, has enjoined the general public to continue to support the police by providing credible information that will help in the fight against crime and criminal elements in the state.
Anambra Gets New Police Commissioner, Fourth in Eight Months
Anambra State has gotten a new Commissioner of Police, Echeng Eworo Echeng, making has been posted to Anambra State as the new Commissioner of Police (CP), making him the fourth CP in the state within a period of eight months.
He is taking over from Tony Olofu who has been transferred to the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
Before Olofu’s posting on September 10, Chris Owolabi took charge of the State Police Command from April 30.
However, Monday Bala Kuryas who was deployed on February 19 oversaw the state’s internal security for barely six weeks.
Force Public Relations Officer, CP Frank Mba, who announced the deployment of the new police chief in the state said the erstwhile police commissioner has been redeployed to the Force Headquarters, Abuja.
He noted that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) has also ordered the deployment of a detachment of the police “Special Forces to Anambra State to bolster and complement the ongoing peace-building efforts of the Nigeria Police Operation Restore Peace in Anambra State.”
According to CP Mba, IGP is “particularly concerned with the renewed incidents of attacks on innocent individuals and symbol of state authority in the state.”
He said the new CP has been charged to “mobilise both kinetic and non-kinetic law enforcement and crime-fighting approaches to reverse the negative trend, reclaim public spaces from hoodlums and restore public peace in the state.”
Until his recent posting, CP Echeng was the Commissioner of Police in Bayelsa State.
He holds a first degree in History from the University of Maiduguri and has received extensive training on global peace support operations at Mission Training Cell, Kielce, Poland, amongst other tactical and leadership courses.
Echeng has also served as a former Police Component Commander, Joint Task Force, Operation Delta Safe, Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Zonal CID, Zone-13, Ukpo, Anambra State, amongst other key positions.
