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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Crime & Justice

VIDEO: Police arrest ‘one chance’ kidnapping syndicate, recover N8.8m ransom in Abuja

From The Punch · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • Nigerian police arrested a kidnapping syndicate in Abuja, recovering 8.8 million naira in ransom.
  • The syndicate targeted women, demanding large sums after abducting them in vehicles.
  • Authorities are intensifying efforts to combat

The Federal Capital Territory Police Command has apprehended members of a "one chance" kidnapping and robbery syndicate in Abuja, recovering the full 8.8 million naira ransom allegedly paid by a victim.

Like you all know, FCT residents have been battling with issues of one-chance activities within the FCT and the Commissioner of Police has charged all the additional police officers to ensure that they bring an end to one-chance activities.

— SP Josephine AdehFCT Police Public Relations Officer explaining the intensified efforts against 'one chance' crimes.

The police stated that operatives dismantled the gang following sustained surveillance, leading to the arrest of the suspects and the recovery of the ransom. The victim was reportedly abducted after boarding a vehicle operated by the syndicate, which initially demanded a higher sum before settling for 8.8 million naira and releasing her.

So on Saturday… we received a distress call that a certain young lady was being abducted by this particular gang. Our CP tracking unit started tracking the phone of the victim that was being used to contact the family.

— SP Josephine AdehDescribing the police response to the abduction.

During a briefing, the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, highlighted the command's intensified efforts to eliminate "one chance" crimes, citing directives from the Commissioner of Police. She explained that the command received a distress call after the victim's abduction and immediately deployed its tracking unit to monitor the phone used by the kidnappers.

They collected the sum of N8.8m and released the victim. But we still continued tracking this syndicate and… arrested the whole syndicate, recovering the N8.8m that was taken from this victim.

— SP Josephine AdehDetailing the successful recovery of the ransom and arrest of the syndicate.

Investigations revealed the gang deliberately targeted women, with one suspect admitting they preyed on women because "they are not struggling." The suspects also confessed to extorting various sums from previous victims, including 500,000 naira, 1.5 million naira, and 2 million naira, before the latest 8.8 million naira incident. Another suspect confirmed that the operational vehicle used in the crimes belonged to her boyfriend.

They will tell you they picked mostly women because women don’t struggle.

— SP Josephine AdehExplaining the syndicate's targeting of women.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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