…RECOVERS FOUR AK 47, TWO SVU
By Okosun Dennis
What is considered as “Every day for the thief, one day for the owner,” played out as the Lagos State Police Command killed nine members of a notorious kidnap syndicate that specialized in kidnapping wealthy individuals in Isolo, Okota, Ejigbo and Ladipo areas of Lagos State.
The kidnappers met their waterloo on Thursday, 4th July 2024, after credible intelligence hinted that the dangerous gang of kidnappers was planning to kidnap some prominent individuals in Lagos.
As a result, the police laid an ambush for the kidnappers. During the process, the criminals engaged the police in a gun battle leading to the decapitation of nine of them while two escaped with gunshot injuries.
Disclosing this today, 5th July, at the Headquarters, Lagos Police Command, Ikeja, the Commissioner of Police, CP Adegoke Fayoade, said that they received intelligence about the criminals two weeks ago and have been monitoring their movement to neutralize them.
Following directives by CP Fayoade to the Tactical Teams, they followed up closely, monitored dutifully, and were able to determine that the gang was going to strike yesterday in the Ladipo area of Lagos State.
“With the benefit of this information, we were able to proactively prepare for them and laid an ambush for them.
“Nine of them were neutralized while two escaped with gunshot injuries. Four AK-47 rifles, four locally-made semi-automatic pistols, nine AK-47 magazines, three walkie-talkies, one Point of Sale (POS) machine, and a loudspeaker were recovered from them.
Also recovered were their two operational vehicles: one black Toyota 4Runner and a blue Lexus RX350. Meanwhile, investigations are ongoing to arrest the fleeing suspects.
It was further revealed that the Command had been on the trail of the gang for the past eight months for their numerous kidnapping of wealthy individuals in Isolo, Okota, Ejigbo, and Ladipo areas of Lagos State.
“We are proud to declare that their reign of terror has effectively come to an end,” CP Fayoade reiterated.
It was learnt that this breakthrough is in addition to several other breakthroughs the command has made in recent times especially identifying and apprehending gangs of kidnappers and armed robbers while planning their crimes.
Noting that many of these were not made public to protect the identity of members of the public that made the information available.
As a result of the fleeing injured kidnappers, the police have urged members of the public, especially the medical practitioners to be on the lookout for anyone with gunshot injuries and promptly inform the nearest police station or call any of our emergency numbers if they come across anyone.
Meanwhile, CP Fayoade is using the medium to call on other well-meaning Lagosians not to hesitate to give prompt information when they suspect anything amiss around them to enable us to act appropriately and swiftly, stressing that they would continue to prioritize their safety and Security.