Many wondered at the manner of the October 7 release of the 20 corps members kidnappers seized on the Mgbidi road, Imo, enroute to the Abia orientation camp on October 1.
Some media reports indicated a couple of the victims’ parents paid ransom. Meaning: no security effort materialized in the hostage release. However, the state and security authorities claimed they secured the release, and manage the info because of its sensitivity.
But more facts have surfaced following the latest developments: the arrest of the suspects in Port Harcourt and Abia; and the DSS arraignment of five of them on October 20.
- The security agencies have remained active on the case. The interdiction operations lasted between Oct 10 and 14, according to security sources.
- Three of the suspects arraigned so far—Babangida Aliyu, Mohammed Ali, and Usman Aliyu—are below 25 years of age.
- Three of the weapons they used for the operation were AK-47.
- The criminals are either inter-state man snatchers or opportunistic kidnappers
- The amount of loot the security agents recovered, N1.8 million, didn’t compare with the N5 million the kidnappers eventually demanded for each victim’s release. It didn’t confirm, either, the millions some of the parents claimed they raised and paid in ransom.