The Rivers state Police Command has rescued a popular hotelier,John Sunny, from gunmen.
The police said the kidnappers refused to set the man free even after his relatives had paid ransom in dollars worth about N25million.
The hotelier was said to have been shot three times before he was whisked away from his residence at Artillery in Port Harcourt by gunmen.
The State Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, disclosed this on Tuesday, January 9, during his maiden New Year briefing at the Command Headquarters’ along Moscow Road, Port Harcourt.
CP Disu also revealed that when the gunmen noticed that the police had identified the kind of vehicles they used in their operations, they took them to a mechanic workshop to change the colours.
He said: “This victim was kidnapped on the 19th of December at his residence in Artillery, Port Harcourt by these hoodlums. The victim is a popular hotelier in town.
“These hoodlums shot him three times on the leg before he was abducted. His family did not tell the police or other security agencies. They (victim’s family) decided to pay the ransom that was demanded by the kidnappers.
“The total sum of about N25 million in dollars was paid to these kidnappers, but the refused to release the victim. It was at these this stage that the wife of the victim decided to inform the police, on the 30th of December.
“The Police of the C4i Intelligence started to work on it. Earlier this month our men had an encounter with them but these kidnappers escaped.
“They changed the colours but we have recovered the two vehicles. Yesterday (Monday) night on the discovery of the location where the victim was kept, we decided to embark on a rescue operation of the victim today (Tuesday).
“At about 0700 hours officers of the command went to their abode in Agbonchia-Oyigbo forest in Eleme Local Government Area (in Rivers) where they kept then victim since then.
“The operation was successful, the victim was rescued alive and one of the kidnappers while exchanging fire with officers was injured and is undergoing treatment.
“The victim has been taken to the hospital and undergoing treatment at the moment. We recovered one AK-47 rifle from the kidnappers and two magazines loaded with 44 rounds of live ammunition and the two operational vehicles used to torment members of the public.
“The vehicles are one RS 315 and RS 330. “The peculiar thing about these kidnappers is that they have been the ones collecting their ransom in food flask.
“They demand their ransom in dollars and ask it to be put in food flask. Those who escaped we know how to get them.”
