Traffic between Lagos and Ibadan: Police and kidnappers exchange gunfire; traveler rescued

Around the Kara Bridge end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, men from the Ogun State Police Command freed a kidnapping victim named Sheu Anafi and detained an alleged kidnapper named Ibraheem Abubakar.

This was revealed in a statement released on Sunday by SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, the state police public relations officer.

The victim was one of the passengers whose car was ambushed by a group of kidnappers, according to Oyeyemi, who claimed that the arrest was made on Saturday after his men broke into the suspect's hiding place and freed the victim.

He said, "Men of the command, in response to a report submitted at the Warewa divisional headquarters by a truck driver, carried the war to the doorstep of the hoodlums.

"The driver stated that he was traveling from Ilorin in a Ford commercial vehicle with seven passengers inside; upon reaching the Longbridge, he encountered a traffic delay as a result of which he used the unpaved access road next to the bridge.

"They were assaulted by unidentified gunmen while driving along the aforementioned access road, causing all of the passengers to flee in different directions into the neighboring wilderness.

"However, as they all gathered to continue their journey, it was found that Alhaji Sheu Anafi, from the Okeleele neighborhood of Ilorin, had been kidnapped by the thugs.

"In response to the report, the DPO for Warewa, CSP Abdul-Fatai Ogunsanya, organized a combined search operation for the kidnapped guy that included members of the command's tactical teams, neighborhood watchmen, So-Safe Corps, and OPC men.

"Their efforts paid off when the kidnappers' hiding place was discovered and the security personnel engaged them in a gun duel.

"At the conclusion of the encounter, one of the abductors, Ibraheem Abubakar, who claimed to have come from Sabonganmu-Bompai Road in Kano State, was detained; the victim, 62-year-old Sheu Anafi, was recovered unharmed. The other abductors managed to flee with varied degrees of bullet wounds.

"The guy has admitted to being a part of a seven-man gang that has recently been terrorizing the stretch of the Longbridge," police said.

Oyeyemi said that the suspect had been sent right away to the State Criminal Probe Department for a covert investigation under the direction of Police Commissioner Lanre Bankole.

"The CP also asked to members of the public, particularly hospitals," he stated, "to alert the police if somebody with a gunshot injury is observed in their region."