The Police in Cross River State have arrested three suspects, Samuel Ime Thompson, 25, Kingsley Mbetobong, 23 and Asuquo Ekpo Etim, 26, in connection with the kidnap of one Edmund Akpaikpe, a medical doctor with Irua Specialist Hospital, Edo state, around Esigi village in Bakassi Local Government Area of the state.
Akpaikpe was kidnapped this past Sunday in Bakassi where he had gone to drop off his maid at Esigi village. He regained his freedom on Tuesday after the Anti Kidnapping & Cultism Squad, AKCS, after a frantic search and rescue operation, closed in on the suspects at a location in the forest where the victim was taken to. Chased and hemmed in by the police, the suspects abandoned the victim’s vehicle, a black Toyota Camry with registration number, AAA 564 BZ which was also recoverd by the police.
Irene Ugbo, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP and Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, CRS Police Command, who confirmed the arrest of the suspects, told journalists that the spate of kidnapping in the country was saddening and alarming, “especially now that we are coming to the end of the year.” She added that a lot of criminally minded individuals now use the excuse of trying to meet up to get into various crimes including kidnapping and assured that the police will leave no stone unturned in arresting and prosecuting individuals or groups who take to crime.