Operatives of the Oyo State Police Command have arrested suspected 17 kidnappers for their involvement in some recent abductions in the state.

Spokesperson of the command, Adewale Osifeso, who disclosed this in a statement on Friday, July 29, said eight suspects were arrested in connection with the abduction of Christopher Bakare, the supervisor of a farm belonging to the late former governor of the state, Adebayo Alao-Akala.

Recall that Bakare was abducted on the farm in Jabata located in the Surulere Local Government Area of the state.

Some of the eight suspects were also said to have kidnapped the owner of a private clinic, Dr Abdurasheed Oladoye at Gbede in the same local government area.

The police noted that some items including a gun and expended cartridge as well as some cash were recovered from them.

"One Taiwo Christopher Bakare ‘m’, Farm Supervisor of TDB Farm Ltd, and Dr Abdulrasheed Oladoye ‘m’ both of Jabata and Gbede communities under Surulere Local Government Area of Oyo State were abducted on the July 16 and 22, 2022,"

“The following eight suspects were arrested in connection with both abductions. They are: Anjola Abubakar ‘m’ aged 25yrs, Sani Abdullahi ‘m’ aged 28 years, Sani Jafaru ‘m’ aged 26 years, Sale Mohammadu ‘m’ aged 25 years, and Isah Muhammed ‘m’ aged 25 years old.

Others are: Aliu Jafaru ‘m’ aged 50 years; Umar Abubakar ‘m’ aged 34 years; and Mustapha Baruguma ‘m’ aged 20 years.

"While in another development, men of the Command, attached to Iganna Divisional Police Headquarters, have arrested a kidnapping syndicate responsible for abductions around Iganna, Iwere-Ile and Ijio axis under Iwajowa LGA.

"The suspects are: Umar Jale Usman, age 56 years; Abdullahi Mohammed Sani ‘m’ aged 42 years, Jamiu Jubril ‘m’ aged 45 years, Kayode Kolade ‘m’ aged 35 years, Leggi Usman ‘m’ aged 28 years, Jamiu Iroko ‘m’ aged 30 years, Sule Bello ‘m’ aged 20 years, Umar Shuaibu aged 20 years, and Kali Weti ‘m’ aged 29 years old.”

Items recovered from them include one Dane gun; one expended cartridge; detachable head hood (black); one pair of slippers; and a sum of N12,000.

The PPRO said all the suspects had confessed their various involvements in the crime and were presently helping the police with further investigations into the crime.