Police nab suspected kidnappers with18 children

Imo State Police Command, weekend, nabbed a bus driver at the border between Imo and Rivers States, conveying about 18 school children suspected to have been abducted.

Vanguard investigations revealed that the pupils were allegedly abducted from Umuohie Primary School and Baptist Secondary School, Umuohie, all in Ngor Okpala Local Government Area of Imo State.

According to reports, the bus driver refused to stop when he was flagged down for routine check and this fuelled suspicion among the policemen on duty.

A villager, who spoke on ground of anonymity, told Vanguard that a female teacher, the bus driver and the school children were first moved to the Divisional Police Headquarters, Umuneke, before being taken to the state Police Headquarters, Owerri.

It was gathered that the female teacher and the driver, whose names could not be ascertained at press time, were already telling the police all they knew about the movement of the school children.

Meantime, residents of the area have appealed to security agencies in the state to extend their surveillance to the border road, which they described as “very lonely.”

According to them, the road was gradually turning into a get-away route for criminals operating across the border communities.

They particularly named the Umuneke-Elele-Obike-Eche road which is called “Abuja Expressway” as prone to criminal activities and urged the authorities to beef up security along the road.



-- Vanguard