Amid the incessant abduction of clergymen in Edo State, the police have rescued an Italian priest identified as Reverend Father Luigi Brena of Somascan Father’s community.
The Deputy Public Relations Officer of the Edo State Police Command, Jennifer Iwegbu, confirmed this in a statement on Monday in Benin City, the state capital.
She revealed that 64-year-old Brena was kidnapped on Sunday evening by hoodlums suspected to be kidnappers along Ogunwenyi through Usen community in Ovia South-West Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
A day to Brena’s abduction, gunmen kidnapped two Catholic priests around Ehor and Iruekpen communities along the Benin-Auchi Expressway.
The abducted clergymen who have yet to regain freedom were Reverend Father Udo Peter of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Uromi, and Reverend Father Philemon Oboh of St. Joseph Retreat Centre, Ugboha in Esan South East Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
“In our continuous efforts to curb crime and criminality in the state, most especially kidnapping, the Edo State Police Commissioner, CP Abutu Yaro, fdc has massively deployed police operatives to most of the identified volatile areas in the state and the move has started yielding positive results,” Iwegbu said while announcing the Italian’s rescue.
She explained that police operatives attached to Iguobazuwa Division were alerted of the incident on Sunday at about 5:45 pm and immediately trailed the suspected kidnappers to their camp.
On sighting the operatives, the command’s spokesperson narrated, the suspects opened fire on them after which the police swiftly responded.
“The superior firepower of the police operatives neutralised three of the kidnappers while the rest escaped into the forest with various degrees of gunshot injuries, abandoning their victim,” she said.
“The victim was immediately rushed to Igbinedion Teaching Hospital, Okada for medical attention. Meanwhile, intensive bush combing is ongoing with the aim of arresting the suspected kidnappers now on the run.”
Yaro, in his reaction, appealed to residents not to deter from partnering with the police by supporting them with prompt and useful information that could lead to the arrest of criminals terrorising the state.
He stressed that the command remained committed to the fight against kidnapping and other criminal acts in Edo.