The Police Command in Enugu State has neutralised two suspected kidnappers and rescued one male kidnap victim (name withheld) at the outskirts of Enugu metropolis.

The Command also recovered the victim’s black-coloured Lexus 350 Jeep alongside one locally made revolver gun loaded with four cartridges and another locally fabricated pistol belonging to the criminal elements.

This is contained in a statement issued by the Command’s Spokesman, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, on Tuesday in Enugu.

Ndukwe said that police operatives, led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, Mr Olasoji Akinbayo, carried out the successful operation on Aug. 20 at about 8:00 pm at Centenary Layout, along Enugu-Port-Harcourt Expressway.

He said that the police operatives were drawn from the NPF Special Forces, Awkunanaw Police Division and tactical teams of the command.

“Following the policing thrust and renewed crime fighting impetus of the state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr Kanayo Uzuegbu, a combined team of police operatives rescued a male kidnap victim after a gun fight with the hoodlums.

“One of the miscreants, simply identified as ‘Baron’, was neutralised on the spot in the ensuing shootout, while others escaped with varying degrees of gunshot wounds.

“However, further manhunt for the fleeing members of the gang led to the discovery and recovery of the lifeless body of the second neutralised hoodlum.

“The second neutralised hoodlum was simply identified as Chukwunonso, a.k.a. ‘Nolly’, in the morning hours of Aug. 21 in a forest at the location of the gun duel,” he said.

Ndukwe said that the two neutralised criminals had been on the watch-list of the command.

According to him, the operational success was due to the swift response to a distress call on the kidnap of the victim along Agbani Road, Enugu, in the night.

The police spokesman commended the operatives for quickly adapting to his newly introduced crime-fighting strategies.

He said that the commissioner had previously tasked police officers and other personnel of the command to sustain the tempo.

“There will be no breathing space for unrepentant criminals in the State, under his (Uzuegbu) watch as the Commissioner of Police,” he added.