The Enugu State Police Command has rescued a pregnant woman Chinwendu Igwe, who was kidnapped on April 22, 2024 along Eke-Egede Road in Udi Local Government Area State, while coming from Lagos with two of her children
Penpushing reports that the Command Public Relations Officer, a Deputy Superintendent of Police Daniel Ndukwe, made this known in a statement made available to journalists explaining that the victim was rescued from kidnappers’ captivity on April 23, 2024 by police operatives.
The police spokesperson explained that a preliminary investigation into the incident showed that the pregnant woman was on a journey by road with two of her children from Lagos to her paternal home in Egede, Udi local government, without assistance despite knowing that she was within her expected period of delivery.
‘She got to Ninth Mile around 9 p.m., lacking a convenient means of conveyance, she boarded a commercial motorcycle, with the motorcyclist electing to transport her and her two children due to her state of pregnancy’, the statement said
“However, while on their way, the abductors attacked them, beat up the motorcyclist, and abducted the woman into the forest, leaving the rider and the children behind, before a team of police operatives from the Ezinze Police Division of the Command that responded upon intercepting information on the incident, could get to the scene,” he said.
Penpushing further reports that the statement added that the police conducted the rescue operation in collaboration with Neighbourhood Watch Group and Forest Guards following a tip-off, adding that two male suspects connected to the woman’s kidnap had been arrested.
The police spokesperson in the statement said the police authorities in the state had decided to withhold the identities of the arrested suspects for proper investigations, but did not confirm whether ransom was paid or not.
Penpushing also reports that the husband of the pregnant woman, Ekene Igwe, was earlier quoted that he paid N1.6 million as ransom to the kidnappers before his wife and newborn were released by the hoodlums.
The Command, however, refuted the claim describing it as total misinformation, and equally debunked a report that the woman was on her way to the hospital for delivery when she was attacked and that the motorcyclist rescued the woman’s two children after the kidnap.
Penpushing reports Ndukwe said the pregnant woman, who was already in her expected period of delivery at the point of the kidnap, was taken to a hospital shortly after her rescue and later successfully delivered a male child at the hospital.
The statement added that the Enugu State Government has undertaken to foot the medical bills of the mother and newborn, adding that the Commissioner of Police Kanayo Uzuegbu, has ordered a manhunt of other fleeing members of the kidnapping gang.
Penpushing further reports that Ndukwe in the statement, however, said the police command expressed disappointment that the pregnant woman had to embark on such a long-distance journey by road unaided and at such a late hour.
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