Police rescue Benue commissioner’s wife, kill three kidnappers

Three suspected kidnappers have been killed in a gun battle with the police to rescue abducted Benue State commissioner’s wife, Mrs Ann Unenge.
Mrs Unenge, the wife of the Benue State Commissioner of Lands and Survey, was abducted along with her driver on Thursday in the Makurdi metropolis.
The woman’s abduction occurred less than one week after two housewives including a medical doctor’s wife, were also taken away at the new GRA in Makurdi.
It was learnt that the housewives regained freedom after a ransom of N6 million was paid by their families while the demand of N51 million was placed on the commissioner’s wife.
But police reportedly engaged the abductors in a gun battle on Monday afternoon, leading to the killing of three of the kidnappers while the woman and her driver who sustained injuries were rescued alive and taken to the hospital for treatment.
Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, who led members of his cabinet to the police headquarters where the dead bodies of the suspects were displayed, hailed the Inspector General of Police and his men in Benue State for the success.
Ortom said the police showed professionalism in engaging the suspected kidnappers in a heavy gun battle after they were able to trace them to their hideouts even as he thanked all those who volunteered useful information which led to the rescue of the woman and her driver.
The governor, however, ordered immediate demolition of the house where the deceased suspects used for their nefarious activities in line with the state’s law on kidnapping.