The Commissioner of Police in Cross River State, Alhassan Aminu, has stated that the gang of suspected kidnappers that struck at a Lemna community in Calabar Municipality Sunday morning are not policemen.
Residents, eyewitnesses including relations of the kidnapped victims in the Lemna community, claimed that some of the suspected kidnappers wore Nigeria Police uniforms and berets.
They added that the suspects shot sporadically before dragging the three victims through the dump sites into their waiting speed boats.
Reacting, the commissioner said “They can not be police men. It is not true. They are criminals.
“Upon intelligence report, I immediately despatched Operation Puff Adder to the scene.
My men arrived the scene and have carried out some actions.”
According to media reports, last week Monday suspected kidnappers had successfully picked three victims and raided a bakery as well as some houses.
A nursing mother who is a wife to one of the victims kidnapped last week said they established communication with her, demanding that she pays N7m before she can speak with her husband.
I summoned courage to ask them that when they stormed our apartment that Monday morning whether they saw it as where a people that can easily raise N20,000 or N50,000 live let alone seven million Naira.
I am a nursing mother and not working. Where on earth will I raise such amount? They had carted away everything in our apartment.
I am passionately appealing to government and security agencies to help me intervene to rescue my husband and other victims.
This Lemna community is no longer safe. Government should establish security presence here.”
