The Imo State Police Command, assisted by some vigilante members, have undiscovered a kidnapper’s underground eight-bedroom den in a deserted building.
Channels Television reported on Saturday that the hideout, located in Umuchima Village, Okwu Autonomous Community in Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State, was used by suspected kidnappers to harbour their victims.
The State Commissioner of Police, Abdulmajid Ali, while parading the suspects, explained that the underground hideout, with eight bedrooms, was discovered through intelligence network and collaboration of the vigilante men.
He said, “it took the police over three hours from Owerri, the state capital, through the thick bush and untarred road to get to the kidnappers’ den.”
The villagers, who spoke to journalists, said they were neither aware of the underground den nor the criminal activities that were carried out in the compound until a kidnapped victim who escaped from the dungeon in the middle of the night narrated his ordeal.
They explained that the statue in front of the building was that of the owner of the building, one Mr. Simeon Mpieri, whom they alleged had died since 1990.
The police commissioner further revealed that the buildings would be confiscated and demolished. He also said the command would do its best to rid the state of of kidnapers.
In June, the state government had given directives that all abandoned properties or uncompleted buildings would be taken over by the government, in order to ensure that those places are not turned to dens for criminals.
