Police operatives in Akwa Ibom State have arrested a 10-man suspected kidnapping gang in a forest raid along the Ibiono Ibom local government area.

Acting on a tip from local intelligence, the police operatives were said to have raided a forest in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area, close to Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, and arrested a total of 10 suspected kidnappers.

It was gathered that these individuals were laying an ambush to kidnap Chinese expatriates working for the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC).

The construction firm’s site is located on the Ibiono Ibom/Ikono axis of the Calabar-Itu highway, currently undergoing reconstruction by CCECC, Julius Berger and other indigenous companies.

The arrest, according to the youth leader of the area, Ubong Etim, took place in the early hours of Friday when the tactical police squad stormed the two forests along the Ibiono Ibom axis of the Ikot Ekpene federal highway.

According to Etim, the kidnappers were using the forests as their hideout and camp for keeping victims while negotiating for ransom.

Efforts to reach the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) were fruitless, as he neither picked up nor returned calls to his phone.

However, a senior police officer, confirming the arrest but pleading anonymity, explained that “the police were able to successfully raid the forests after days of monitoring and surveillance on the community.” He added that “the criminals were overpowered in a gun battle, which lasted for hours.”

He disclosed that four AK-47 rifles, some locally made pistols, and objects suspected to be charms were recovered from the suspects. They have been transferred to the state headquarters at Ikot Akpanabia, near Uyo, “for interrogation and prosecution.”

“Upon interrogation, the suspects confessed that they have been in the area for months now, preparing the hideout, which also serves as their shrine.

“They also confessed that they were targeting the Chinese expatriates working for CECC, a construction firm handling the reconstruction of one of the phases of the Calabar-Itu-Ikot Ekpene federal highway,” he stressed. (Nigerian Tribune)