Kidnappers, victim, policeman killed in shootout

Four persons, including one policemen, two kidnap suspects and a kidnap victim were reportedly killed in a gun battle between the men of the Akwa Ibom state police command and a kidnap gang on Tuesday.

The incident, Nigerian Tribune gathered, took place in Ntok Enyin Nto Uno, Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, where a former council head, Honourable Usen Ekene, was kidnapped and kept in the forest for three weeks.

A combined force of the police and men of the State Security Service (SSS) who acted on a tip-off were said to have stormed the kidnappers’ den even as they engaged in a gun battle with the suspected kidnappers.

The high fire power of the police overpowered that of the hoodlums leaving two of them dead and in return, the kidnappers killed one police corporal, got one SSS man seriously injured even as the kidnapped victim was killed in annoyance for the loss of their colleagues.

A family member, who confided in our reporter, disclosed that the kidnappers demanded a ransom of N50 million which was on the high side, considering the financial situation of the victim’s family and as such, he was detained in the forest for three weeks by the kidnappers.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Etim Dickson, who confirmed the incident, said the loss of the corporal and the victim that they went to rescue was a big blow on the command.

  According to him: “Well, we did not only lose the man, we also lost one of our police corporals in the process. It is a big blow on our command. You see, these are some of the things we suffer as a result of doing our job.

“You know this issue of rescuing people at a joint operation is not an easy task. One of the officers in the SSS who was also in the operation got injured and two corpses of the kidnappers had been picked.

“The kidnappers had the boldness to shoot at the police and the police shot their colleagues down. We were unable to rescue the man.

“But what I am not sure is whether the man died in the process. What I am told is that the man was an old man, kidnapped for three weeks, keeping him in that forest, the man might have been exhausted. I learnt he died on the way while being rushed to the hospital.”