Two
suspected masterminds of the kidnapping of pupils and staff members of the
Nigerian Turkish International Colleges have been arrested by the police.
Apart
from the ringleaders, Philip Kakadu, aka General Kakadu, and
Romeo Council, aka Raw, other suspects
were also said to be undergoing screening in connection with the abduction.
It was gathered that
29-year-old Kakadu and Council, 40, were apprehended in Warri, Delta State, by
operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team, led
by ACP Abba Kyari.
Some
gunmen had stormed the NTIC last Friday through a hole dug under the school
fence and headed for the female hostel, where three pupils were abducted.
A
Turkish teacher, a supervisor, a matron and two intending candidates of the
Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, who worked in the school, were also
whisked away by the assailants.
The
kidnappers had contacted the matron’s husband and demanded N100m while the
police were under pressure to rescue the victims safely.
However,
operatives said they were exercising restraints to storm the possible locations
of the suspects in the creeks in order not to endanger the lives of the
victims.
A
police sources on Wednesday that the two masterminds had reportedly confessed
to orchestrating the crime, adding that the arrest would mount pressure on the
captors to release the victims.
“Council is a native of the Bomadi Local Government Area,
Delta State, while Kakadu hails from
Warri North LGA of the state. They were arrested on Tuesday and have confessed
to orchestrating the kidnapping at the school.
“They
also confessed to other kidnappings, including the abduction of the Iba monarch
in Lagos, and some Isheri landlords. With their arrest, we believe their boys
holding the victims in the creeks would surrender,” the source said.
Kakadu allegedly told the
police that five of his boys were among those involved in the NTIC operation.
“Kakadu is based in Lagos. He went to Warri to have fun.
That was when operatives swooped on him. Five of his men were part of the gang
and he is cooperating with the police,” another source added.
A
top security agent said the aim of going after the kingpins was not only to
secure the release of the victims, but also to find a better way of addressing
incessant kidnappings in Lagos and Ogun states.
Source:Punch
Tags
Society