Edo State Police Department on Monday, Agbonika revealed that the kidnappers now take their hostages as hostages whenever police follow them.
Agbonika explained this at a press conference Wednesday, May 6, 2025, in honor of his month in the state.
He said seven victims of the kidnapping were rescued, while 12 suspected kidnappers were arrested, most of whom pleaded guilty to crime. He also said 95 alleged worshippers were arrested and prosecuted in court.
CP said 25 more shots were received in the past month, including two AK-47 rifles, 130 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, 135 Live Cartridges, and four stolen/robbed vehicles were recovered.
The others are LAR Mark rifles, three British pistols, one Beretta pistol, four guns, including cash and iPhone 16 Plus
“We will maintain interaction with the community, cross-regional orders and departments’ jungle grooming operations, intelligence-led flashpoint raids, and visibility between many other strategies to prevent crime, maintain crime, and maintain law and order in the state,” he said.
“Our action is not easy. Whenever the kidnappers take hostages, we chase them like we do now, and when we encounter these kidnappers, we find it difficult to fire at them because they use the hostages as shields for the hostages and they are free to fire at us.
“We are working on introducing other technical help to track these kidnappers and make it easy to pick them out without harming the victims. We want to be proactive in ensuring that there is no kidnapping.”
“He said police are working with the state government to reform vigilants so that they can only serve in the community and ensure that the forest is well protected.”
