Two brothers who were kidnapped at Ezimo in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State on Sunday have been rescued.
THE WHISTLER gathered that the abductors are natives of Enugu-Ezike in Igboeze North Local Government Area of the state. It was learnt that the victims were kidnapped when they visited one Anselm Ogbu, a native doctor.
An eye witness, on condition of anonymity, said the incident occured around 8pm. Quoting him, “The kidnappers struck when the two brothers were being accompanied by their host. There was another person with them. The abductors suddenly appeared, firing gunshots to scare people within the vicinity. They succeeded because people around scampered for safety. There was pandemonium.
“They fired more than six rounds. I saw two of them. They are Fulanis. I don’t know how they hid and appeared suddenly. Some emerged from a nearby culvert.”
Anselm Ogbu, who was the host to the two brothers, commended security operatives for being proactive.
He said, “They asked us to surrender. I fought one of them when he brought a rope and asked me to submit my two hands to be tied. I was able to run away. The second person also followed me. But the two brothers who visited me were abducted.”
Police confirm arrest
The Enugu State Police Command, Wednesday, confirmed the incident. Its Public Relations Officer, SP Daniel Ndukwe, in a release, stated that the victims were rescued through a combined security effort.
Ndukwe stated that they were rescued across Enugu-Benue State borders.
According to him, the operations comprised police operatives of Udenu Police Division, the Anti-Kidnapping Section of the Command’s Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU), and the Distress Response Squad (DRS) of the Orukam Police Division of the Benue State Command, the Benue State Civil Protection Guards, the Nigerian Army, Enugu State Forest Guards, Neighbourhood Watch members, and the Ezimo Vigilante Group.
Quoting him, “The operation also leveraged the Inspector-General of Police’s Handshake Patrol initiative, leading to the rescue of two brothers abducted on August 3, 2026, at Ezimo-Uno, Udenu Local Government Area. The victims were rescued unhurt at about 1:40pm on August 4, 2026, at Ikele, Owukpa Community, Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue State, after an intense gun duel that forced the kidnappers to flee with varying degrees of gunshot injuries.”
He said items recovered from them are fifteen rounds of live ammunition, the victims’ Android phones and car keys, other mobile phones and accessories, a bottle containing suspected hard drugs and drug paraphernalia, clothing items, and ₦11,800.00. The victims were debriefed and reunited with their family.”
Our insider findings show that the kidnappers use a notorious cave located inside a forest behind a popular trailer park, along Enugu-Benue borders, as their hideouts.
(The Whistler)