Police foil attempt to hijack Lagos bound bus in Rivers State, kill 3 suspected kidnappers

Police officers on Monday morning, foiled an attempt by suspected kidnappers to hijack a Lagos bound 15-seater commercial around Rumuji, in Emohua Local Government area of East-West road of Rivers State.

Spokesman of the Rivers State Police Command, DSP Nnamdi Omoni, who confirmed the incident said that as soon as the kidnappers sighted the commercial bus, they started firing at it from the bush to force it to stop.

But some policemen arrived the scene and engaged the hoodlums in a gun duel, thereby, forcing the hoodlums to flee into the nearby bush. The policemen chased the suspects into the bush and eventually, killed three of them, while five others were arrested.

The arrested suspects are helping the police as they under are undergoing interrogation.

DSP Omoni further said the Police had assisted the rest of  the passengers to continue their journey to Lagos but the driver of the bus could not continue the journey because of the bullet wound he sustained during the gun battle between the Police and hoodlums.

“The kidnappers had emerged from the bush shot at the tyre of bus. Since launching of the “Operation Sting”,we very much on ground. We sighted them and they opened fire. We returned fire, killed three of them and arrested five who are helping us with investigation. We had to make alternative arrangements for the passengers to continue their journey to Lagos, while the driver who sustained minor injury was taken to the hospital”

Today’s incident is one major breakthrough since Governor Nyesom Wike launched “Operation Sting”on July 26,2019. Wike said that the initiative is a signal for criminals to understand that there is no hiding place for them in the state.

“Operation Sting is our own specialized security initiative anchored on an integrated and coordinated approach fully funded by the Rivers state government to effectively tackle both the sources and drivers of insecurity. The operation is also to fight against every security threat to our state, our persons and our properties in other to create the right social environment to drive our development. Under Operation Sting we have taken concrete steps to strengthen the logistics and operational capability of the civil and armed security forces,” he said.