Gideon Arinze in Enugu
Operatives of the Enugu State Police Command have arrested two suspects for their alleged involvement in the abduction of a pregnant woman, identified as Chinwendu Igwe along Eke-Egede Road in Udi Local Government.
This is even as the Commissioner of Police in the state, Kanayo Uzuegbu has ordered a manhunt of other members of the kidnapping gang at large.
Confirming the arrest via a statement made available to newsmen yesterday, Police Public Relations Officer, Daniel Ndukwe said that the incident occurred around 9:45 p.m. on April 22, 2024.
He however noted that acting on intelligence-guided discreet investigations, CP Uzuegbu swiftly led a crack team of police operatives, complemented by the Neigbourhood Watch Group and Forest Guards, to rescue the woman on April 23, 2024.
He noted that the woman, who was in her expected period of delivery, delivered a male child and, upon her rescue was taken to Parklane Hospital, where she and her baby are being attended to.
“A preliminary investigation into the incident has revealed that the woman, unaided and for reasons yet to be ascertained, knowing that she was within her expected period of delivery, embarked on a journey by land with two of her children from Lagos to her paternal home in Egede, Udi LGA,” the statement read.
According to the statement, “She got to 9th 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,”.
“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.”
Meanwhile, the victim’s husband, Ekene Igwe, has hailed the Enugu State government for its quick intervention, which includes taking over the wife’s medical bills.
