Kidnappers suffocate 74-year-old woman in Akwa Ibom; police kill two suspects

Two kidnappers have been killed by policemen at Idu-Iruan, Uruan Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
They were part of a three-man suspected kidnap gang in the South-South state.
This was confirmed by the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mrs. Cordelia Nwawe, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP).
She said they were killed in a gun battle.
The suspected kidnappers were said to have kidnapped 74-year-old Mrs Grace Bassey in her residence at Use, Adadia Village in the local government.
Mrs Nwawe said in Uyo, the state capital on Sunday, that the suspects suffocated their victim to death in an attempt to prevent the woman from screaming for help.
“The suspects having killed their victim, fled to 1000 Unit Estate in Idu Uruan, where the Anti-Robbery Squad on information, trailed them to the place where the suspected kidnappers exchanged gunfire with the police.
“During the exchange of gunfire, two of the kidnappers were brought down with one escaping with bullet wounds. The police recovered two locally-made pistols with five live cartridges, a Toyota Corolla car with no registration number.
“The victims’ bodies had been deposited at the morgue while investigation is still ongoing,” Nwawe said.
Paraded also at the police headquarters were six armed robbery suspects, two suspected kidnappers and three others arrested in connection with the theft of a three-week old baby girl.
The PPRO said that items recovered from the suspects included two AK 47 rifles; two G3 rifles; three pump action rifles; two AK 47 magazines; eight locally-made pistols; and a large quantity of cartridges.
Confessing to the crime, one of the suspects said that he went into crime by stealing clothes because he did not have anyone to help him either further his education or learn a trade.
“I went into stealing clothes because I have no one to help me. It was my friend who put me into this trouble. He went and stole these clothes and brought them into my house.
“He asked me to join him so that we can share anything that came from the sale of the clothes,’’ the suspect said.