The Bayelsa State Police Command has rescued a 42-year-old woman, Sarah Chinedu, who spent almost one month in the den of kidnappers.
Chinedu, an indigene of Ebonyi State who resides in Amassoma, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, was abducted on July 28, 2026, when suspected kidnappers invaded her foam shop under the pretext of buying an item.
The state Commissioner of Police, Ajao Adewale, disclosed this on Sunday while briefing journalists on the operation.
Adewale said the victim was rescued unhurt from the kidnappers’ hideout in Ogboinbiri Forest, Southern Ijaw LGA, by operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit led by CSP Chris Nwaogbo.
He said the command received a distress call around 7pm on the day of the incident and immediately deployed its intelligence network to track the abductors.
According to him, intelligence gathering from digital and local sources provided leads on the movements of the gang and their ransom negotiations with the victim’s family.
He said the kidnappers initially demanded N100m ransom but later reduced it to N20m, and collected N1.5m from the victim’s husband for “refreshments.”
Adewale said operatives of the Violent Crime Response Squad, in collaboration with the Federal Criminal Investigation Unit and the Marine Department, relocated to Ogboinbiri Forest five days before the final operation and began closing in on the suspects.
“The operatives stormed the kidnappers’ camp at about 1.45am, rescued the victim and arrested one of the suspects,” he said.
The suspect was identified as 33-year-old Mark from Akenfa 1 community.
The CP said the suspect confessed to the crime and narrated how the gang carried out the abduction.
He said, “They surveyed the environment and saw that the woman was not sufficiently protected. They abducted her, put her in a vehicle and moved her to the riverside, where she was ferried to the camp.”
Adewale commended the officers who participated in the operation, particularly those who endured difficult terrain on the river while tracking the suspects.
