DPO’s Release: CP Denies N3m Ransom Payment To Kidnappers

Delta State Commissioner of Police, Mr Adeyinka Adeleke, has denied the alleged payment of ransom by the Police Command to kidnappers in the state.
A Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Delta State was allegedly kidnapped at the weekend along the Benin-Asaba-Onitsha expressway but regained freedom after a ransom of N3 million was paid.
The victim, whose name was given as Mr Okoro, is in charge of Galilee Police Station, Ute-Ogbeje Community in Ika North East Local Government Area of the state.
An inside source at the State Police Command Headquarters in Asaba told our correspondent that the victim was freed by his abductors after a ransom of N3 million was paid.
The said DPO was kidnapped between Onicha-Ugbo and Issele-Uku on the expressway last Friday by gunmen who shot sporadically before whisking him to unknown destination.
Additional information  from a police officer who pleaded for anonimity claimed that the DPO was on his way to Asaba for official assignment when the hoodlums swooped on him
He was said to been set free on Sunday after the negotiated ransom was dropped at a designated location for the abductors to grab.
But the State Commissioner of Police, Mr Adeyinka Adeleke however denied the incident and the subsequent payment of ransom, saying that it was the DPO’s friend that was allegedly kidnapped on the fateful day.
Adeleke, who said he was in touch with the DPO, added that the police will never encourage anybody to pay ransom for their kidnapped friend or relative to be freed.

Albert Ograka, Asaba