By Festus Ahon

A 40-year-old discharged lance corporal, said to be kingpin of a five-man kidnapping syndicate that specialises in the abduction of women with flashy cars in Asaba and its environs, has been arrested by operatives of the Delta State Police Command.

He was paraded alongside 174 other suspects arrested across the state for kidnapping, robbery, rape and defilement, fraud, car snatching, murder, cultism and vandalism.

Police

Parading the suspects, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Zanna Ibrahim, said the discharged lance corporal and his gang have been terrorising the state capital.

Decrying the high rate of cultism in the state, the police boss said: “Cultism is one of the issues we have in the state. It has extended from higher institutions of learning to secondary schools, unions and the communities. But we are not resting on our oars to reduce the trend to the barest minimum. We are doing this through advocacy programs.”

He said the cultists belonged to various secret cults like “Arobaga, Aiye and others”, adding that they were rounded up at Ashaka, Warri and Kwale through intelligence report.

Confessing to the crime, Saliu, a native of Adamawa State, said he voluntarily opted out of the military when he was working at the Bureau de Change, adding that the kidnap of a Nollywood actress was his first operation.

While regretting his action, the suspect narrated how relatives of a victim coughed out N1 million to secure her release.