By Desire Emmanuel
Kidnappers who abducted three Cameroonian women that came to buy goods in Onitsha, Anambra State, have killed them and thrown their bodies inside river after payment of N2.9 million as ransom.
The Anambra State Police Command announced the sad development in a statement on Thursday, November 27, as it added that some of the abductors have been arrested after carrying out the gruesome act.
It was gathered that the women were kidnapped while on a business trip to purchase goods in Onitsha market. After abducting them, the abductors refused to release them after the sum of N2.9 million was paid from the initial N50 million demanded by them.
The command added that during the search of the women in the bush, they interacted with the people in the area who informed them that three unidentified female corpses were discovered floating in a nearby river within the vicinity where the victims were reportedly kept.
The police forensics department later carried out their work and discovered that those bodies were those of the kidnapped victims.
The police continued to launch their dragnet and succeeded in arresting two of the kidnappers whose names were given as Nonso Augustine Akpeh and Kingsley Akpeh. They were arrested by the operatives attached to the Rapid Response Squad of the command.
It was gathered that during the interrogation of the two men, they further named Uchenna Nicholas Mmadu as an accomplice. They subsequently led police operatives to bush locations and while this was going on, Kingsley Akpeh attempted to escape, but was shot in the leg.
During the bush combing, one pump-action gun, a locally-fabricated double-barrelled gun as well as ten live cartridges belonging to the gang were recovered.
The command added that the arrested men had given more useful information to the operatives while efforts are on to arrest other fleeing members of the kidnapping gang.
