CSO Lauds DSS for Foiling Kidnapping in AkwaIbom During Eid Festivities

Linus Alekein Abuja

A Civil Society Organisation operating under the umbrella of the Civil and Human Rights Accountability Network (CHRAN) has applauded the Department of State Services (DSS) for preventing a large-scale kidnapping incident in AkwaIbom State during the Eid El-Kabir holiday.

The CSO also disclosed that the DSS apprehended four commanders of the gang with two AK-47 rifles and six fully loaded magazines at their hideout in Oron during a covert operation at the weekend.

CHRAN further revealed that the gang members, according to preliminary security reports, invaded the state, targeting top politicians who attended the formal defection ceremony of Governor UmoEno from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), an event that coincided with the  holiday.

According to the group, the DSS also smashed a sea pirate gang linked to the November 2024 kidnapping of two Chinese nationals and a Nigerian staff member of MarkSino quarry in Cross River State. It stressed that during that attack, the kidnappers killed a Police Inspector attached to the workers and carted away his AK-47 rifle.

The State Director of CHRAN, OtuekongIsong and Secretary, Christopher Ekpo, in a statement, said the arrest by the DSS was a major breakthrough in the crackdown on criminals terrorising the state and the South-south zone.

He stressed that the arrest of the four gang leaders, who were also linked to the kidnapping of prominent business owners and paramount rulers in Uyo, Eket, and Oron axis, as well as other neighbouring states in the South-south, highlighted the resolve of the secret police to secure Nigerians through its sustained covert operations.

The history of the operations of this notorious gang, he said, primarily involved targeting high-ranking expatriate staff of oil companies, high-net-worth business owners, and paramount rulers across the South-south geo-political zone.

Commending the DSS for the feat, CHRAN called on the organisation not to relent in executing such covert operations, as they are strategically needed to drastically reduce the protracted menace of sea robbery, kidnapping and other high profile crimes.