Nelson Eserada, a suspected self-kidnapper, and Jerry Lawrence, his accomplice, have been taken into custody by the Delta State Police Command.
The was contained in a press release on Thursday, 13th June 2024 signed by the Delta State Police Command Spokesperson, SP Bright Edafe, who disclosed this in Asaba.
According to him, Eserada’s parent received a ransom demand of N50 million from the suspect and his accomplice.
The statement said, “Following complaints received from the father of one Nelson Eserada at Abraka Division that his son Nelson Eserada was kidnapped and that the kidnappers were demanding a ransom of N50 million in bitcoin.
“The suspect also sent a video of the supposed victim tied and being tortured. The DPO Abraka SP Fabian Ayameh swiftly moved into action and embarked on a technical intelligence-led investigation. On June 10, 2024, one Jerry Lawrence of Jeddo Community Warri was arrested in connection with the crime.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect conspired with the said Nelson Eserada, a 400 Level Student of Banking & Finance Department of the Delta State University Abraka, and that the father had already paid the sum of N5.2 million ransom through a Bitcoin account belonging to the principal suspect Jerry Lawrence.”
According to Edafe, the investigation is still ongoing and the suspects are being held.
In addition, he mentioned that the command had detained eight alleged armed robbers who were causing panic in Asaba.
According to a police spokesman, inhabitants of Bonsaac, Okwe, and other parts of the Asaba metropolitan had reported incidences of armed robbery occurring from home to house, which led to the arrest.
“The Commissioner of Police CP Abaniwonda Olufemi deployed a new DPO to ‘B’ division Asaba with a clear mandate to identify, and arrest those responsible.
“Consequently, on May 8, 2024, the newly posted DPO CSP Edewor Akponegware received credible information from a concerned resident (name withheld) that he cited some suspicious-looking boys around the Mango Tree Market and that they were armed.
“The DPO immediately led patrol teams of the division to the scene and in the process the following suspects were arrested, John Dalami 25, Musa Suleiman 25, Abdullahi Jibril 20, Solomon Uchechukwu 24, Yusuf Joda 21, Egboka Chukwu Charles 21, and Wisdom Sylvester 21,” he said.
According to Edafe, a Bagco bag carrying a locally manufactured cut-to-size gun and one live cartridge were found during the search at the location.
In the Issele-Asagba, Coka, and Ibusa localities, he claimed, the suspects have admitted to taking part in several house-to-house armed robberies.
According to the spokesperson, the special Anti-Kidnapping and Cybercrime squad led the operatives to their hiding at the back of the DDPA estate Asaba after the suspects confessed. There, six more suspects were taken into custody and three locally made cut-to-size pistols were found.
