Forest Guards rescue kidnapped mother, son in Enugu

 Enugu State Forest Guards, a  new security outfit set up by Governor Ifeanyi  Ugwuanyi  to get rid of criminals in the state, have rescued  the chairperson of Igbo -Etiti local government area chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nkechi Ugwuoju, who was on Sunday, kidnapped alongside her son and driver  at Agu-Ekwegbe, along Opi-Nike Road in Igbo Etiti local government area  of the state. 
It was alleged that  the kidnappers were a five-man armed gang, comprising of four suspected herdsmen and an ibo native, 
According to  the State Coordinator of Forest Guards, Chief Obodoechi, on   December 22 2019, about noon, members of the Forest Guards, acting on a tip off, trailed the bandits to the forest and engaged them in a gun battle. The bandits escaped with bullet wounds while abandoning their victims, a bag containing their personal effects and a cutlass.
He  said that the kidnap victims were subsequently rescued unhurt and handed over to the Police (Anti-Kidnap Unit) together with the items recovered for further investigation.
The State Coordinator commended Ugwuanyi  for his leadership style especially in the area of security.  
Obodoechi disclosed that the governor recently,  approved the recruitment of additional 300 guards by the DSS to strengthen the identified flash points in the State, while those guards recruited in the Urban areas are to be redeployed accordingly.
 He further reiterated that the Forest Guards unit was solely created to assist the Police and sister agencies in their internal security efforts.
The rescued victims had been reunited with their families.
Ugwuoju thanked Ugwuanyi for creating the Forest Guards security outfit to complement the efforts of the conventional security forces operating in the states.