… As police round-up 13 armed robbery suspects
From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
A 400-level student of Banking and Finance at the Delta State University, Abraka, Nelson Eserada, has been arrested by the police for allegedly arranging his own kidnap.
He was arrested alongside his partner in the alleged crime, Jerry Lawrence, a native of Jeddo in Warri area of the oil rich state.
The suspects, who demanded a hefty ransom of N50 million from Nelson’s wealthy father had already succeeded in extracting N5.2 million from the distraught father before they were caught.
The ransom was paid through a Bitcoin account belonging to Mr. Lawrence, according to the Public Relations Officer of the Delta State Police Command, SP Bright Edafe, who confirmed the arrest in a statement yesterday.
Edafe said the breakthrough was made through a technically generated intelligence after Nelson’s father reported that his son had been abducted.
“The suspect also sent a video of the supposed victim tied and being tortured,” he said, adding that the matter was still under investigation, while the suspects are cooling their heels in custody.
Meanwhile, Edafe also confirmed the arrest of 13 persons suspected to be involved in a series of house to house armed robbery within Asaba capital territory.
He said seven of the suspects were arrested at Mango Tree Market following credible information by a concerned resident.
Those arrested include John Dalami (25), Musa Suleiman (25), Abdullahi Jibril (20), Solomon Uchechukwu (24), Yusuf Joda (21), Egboka Chukwu Charles (21) and Wisdom Sylvester (21), according to the command’s spokesman.
He said a bag containing one locally made cut-to-size gun and one cartridge, was recovered when the scene was searched.
Edafe added: “The suspects stated that they have been involved in a series of house-to-house armed robbery operations at Issele-Asagba, Coka, and Ibusa.
“The case was then transferred to the Special Anti-Kidnapping and Cybercrime Squad for further investigation.
“Acting on the confessions of the suspects, they led the operatives to their hideout at the back of DDPA Estate, Asaba, where six additional suspects were arrested and three locally made cut-to-size guns were recovered. Investigation is still ongoing.”