The Delta State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Alkali Baba Usman, Saturday, paraded five members of a kidnap syndicate who reportedly abducted a woman in the Oghara area of the state.
While parading the suspects at the headquarters of the state Police Command, the gang caused a mild drama as they cried and lamented their involvement in the abduction, thus, begging for mercy.
The kidnappers wept before newsmen and inquired to know if they would be killed as punishment for their deed.
The suspected leader of the gang who simply identified himself as Goodluck, said, “Please, let us know; are they going to kill us?”
Goodluck again asked himself, “Is this the way I am going to end my life?
He said, “I have a wife with four months old pregnancy.
“Who will take care of my children when I am no more? God, please take control and set us free from this temptation we find ourselves.
“Oga journalists, please help us beg police; we have repented while in the police cell. We promise not to go into crime again and we shall help to curb crime in our area.
“As you can see, we are crying. That is to show that we regret our involvement in crime; we will never do it again. If we do it and they arrest us, they should kill us without wasting time,” the gang leader pleaded.
The suspects, who claimed unemployment and bad advice from friends pushed them into the act, explained that to tackle crime, government should provide jobs or create the enabling environment for youths to earn a better living.
“Those who have money should take care of their family members so that they will not be willing to sell out their brothers and sisters to kidnappers.
“We have been in the kidnapping business for some time now; it is not easy. Friends and family members give us information as insiders. So, if you are rich, please help the needy in your midst. It will save you from a lot of things,” one of them disclosed.
Proffering solution for better policing, one of them said, “If we can be set free, we volunteer to offer free security services to our community.”
He said, “They should give us security work of the community. We will assist police to stop crime and arrest all the bad boys.
“I am saying so because we know ourselves and will be able to call ourselves to order,” he added.
Disclosing what they used their share of the ransom they collected for, the suspected gang leader said he used his share to buy a motorcycle, even as he expressed regrets that the motorcycle was stolen from him.
“This last kidnapping we organised was just to enable us to find something to do and celebrate the Yuletide, but as I said before, kidnapping is not an easy job. The lady we kidnapped could not give us better money before we were arrested,” he disclosed.
Another suspect said he was not part of the kidnapping, but was told by the leader of the gang to buy bread and soft drinks and deliver to him, not knowing they had kidnapped someone.
“I am begging that they should leave me alone because I know nothing about kidnapping. They know that I am not part of them,” he added as he broke down crying and begging other suspects to say the truth.
He said, “You people know that I am innocent. Please, tell police so that they will let me go.”
The Commissioner said that on January 8, 2016, the police received information that four masked men broke into the house of their victim at Oghara and abducted the wife after dispossessing the husband of about N115, 000.00.
Usman added that based on the information, detectives attached to the anti-robbery patrol team swung into action and went on the trail of the suspects.
He said due to the pressure mounted on the hoodlums, the victim was released unconditionally and unhurt by the suspects while five of the suspected kidnappers were arrested by the police.
“The suspects have confessed to the crime,” Usman said, adding that one locally made cut-to-size, single barrel gun, two cutlasses, one hammer and one battle axe were recovered from the suspects on apprehension.
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