Ondo: Police arrest three suspected kidnappers
The Ondo State Police Command said it had arrested two persons for allegedly being involved in kidnapping activities.
According to the command, the suspects were Abayomi Fayankinu of Okada Area of Edo State, and Felix Orka of Ugbogi Area, Edo State, and Abdullahi Ibrahim.
This was contained in a statement issued by the command’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Olayinka Ayanlade, on Wednesday.
The PPRO said the suspects’ arrest followed a period of discreet surveillance targeted at known criminal corridors frequently exploited by kidnappers to perpetrate their crimes across the state.
He said, “Acting on credible intelligence, operatives of the command’s Anti-Kidnapping Squad embarked on a coordinated operation which led to the arrest of two suspected kidnappers, Abayomi Fayankinu, aged 51 years, of Okada Area, Edo State, and Felix Orkaa , aged 34 years, of Ugbogi Area, Edo State.
“Interrogation of Abayomi Fayankinu revealed that one Adebayo, ‘m’, of Ogbomoso, had been working with him as an informant under the guise of providing security-related intelligence. Fayankinu further disclosed that the said Adebayo trained him in the handling and use of firearms, a revelation that prompted operatives to extend their investigation, resulting in the swift arrest of the said Adebayo.
“Building on this momentum, the investigation further led the team to Edo State, where another notorious member of the syndicate, Ibukun Jimoh Samson, ‘m’, aged 55 years, popularly known as “Iron Body”, was apprehended at Okada Area. A search conducted at his residence yielded the recovery of one English-made single-barreled gun, believed to have been used during their operations.
“This breakthrough ties directly to the earlier arrest of Abdullahi Ibrahim, a kidnap suspect apprehended in Ore, whose confession unveiled a broader criminal network operating along major highways across the South-West region. His disclosures provided actionable intelligence that guided the operatives to the arrest of the other members of the gang, thereby exposing the full extent of their operations.”
Ayanlade noted that the suspects had made voluntary confessional statements detailing their individual roles and levels of involvement in the crime.
The command’s spokesman said the suspects would be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of the investigation.
