The Rivers State Police Command said its operatives have smashed a kidnapping syndicate, arrested four suspects and rescued victim.
The suspects were said to have kidnapped a woman while she was attending to customers at her shop in Aluu community, Ikwerre Local Government Area of the state, before whisking her away to an unknown destination.
The police said the woman was rescued following an operation launched by the command, adding that the operational vehicle used by the suspects was also recovered.
The command said the arrests followed a distress call from the victim’s spouse, simply identified as Mr Ikechukwu, prompting an immediate response.
The spokesperson for the Rivers State Police Command, Blessing Agabe, disclosed this in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Thursday.
Agabe, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, said all four suspects confessed to the crime during interrogation.
The statement read, “The Rivers State Police Command has recorded another major breakthrough in its fight against kidnapping and other violent crimes with the arrest of four suspected members of a notorious kidnapping syndicate, the safe rescue of the victim and the recovery of the gang’s operational vehicle.
“The operation followed a report by Mr Ikechukwu, who informed the police that his wife, Mrs Ikechukwu, 35, was abducted by armed men on Saturday, July 11, 2026, while attending to customers at her shop.
“The kidnappers reportedly whisked her away in a white-tinted mini-bus.
“Acting swiftly on the report, operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit of the Rivers State Police Command launched an intensive intelligence-driven investigation, following the directives of the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Command, Olugbenga Adepoju, and arrested the perpetrators of the crime.”
She identified the suspects as Owhor Chinedu, 42, from Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area; Isioto Waribok, 30, from Andoni Local Government Area; Maduabuchi Emeka, 34, from Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area; and Joe Karachi, 28, also from Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, all in Rivers State.
The statement added, “Exhibit recovered includes a white mini-bus used in carrying out the abduction.
“Preliminary investigation indicates that all four suspects have confessed to their individual roles in the crime.
“Efforts have been intensified to apprehend the two remaining members of the syndicate who are currently at large and to recover the firearms used during the operation.”
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Adepoju, reassured residents that the command remains resolute in its determination to rid the state of kidnappers and other violent criminals.
Adepoju urged members of the public to continue partnering with the police by providing prompt, credible and actionable information that could lead to the arrest of criminal elements.
He assured residents that every useful piece of information would be treated with the utmost confidentiality.
The commissioner said the command, under his watch, remains committed to protecting lives and property and will continue to deploy every lawful strategy to ensure that perpetrators of crime are identified, apprehended and brought to justice.