A 36-year old palace guard and suspected kidnap kingpin has been arrested by the Delta State Police Command for having allegedly facilitated the kidnap of Prof Kanene Okonjo, the mother of the Minister of Finance, Prof Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, last December in Ogwashi-Uku in Delta State.
The Commissioner of Police, Delta State, Mr Ikechukwu Aduba, gave confirmation of the arrest of the suspect named Chiejine, saying, “While the police in Delta State were after him, the Lagos State Police Command was also after him for some criminal offences, so we have handed him over to them.”
He also denied the involvement of the police in the kidnap of the mother of Okonjo-Iweala.
Chiejine was arrested last week by the police after a shoot-out in Edo State in connection with the death of a 71-year old woman, Mrs Regina Obi who had been kidnapped, despite her family paying N2m for her release.
One of the suspected kidnappers was shot dead by the police and four others arrested at separate locations.
Aduba said the suspect, who worked in the palace as a guard, confessed he was the one that brought the kidnappers to the palace to kidnap Prof. Okonjo.
He said Chiejine’s house in Ogbe-Ofu quarters, Ogwashi-Uku was demolished when it was confirmed he was a kidnapper.
Aduba stressed the need for people to be careful of the kind of people they employ as guards, saying: “This is the problem we have now, for practically every kidnap, there is an inside factor. Chiejine is very close to them in the palace and he is the one that brought the kidnappers.”