The Commissioner of Police in Edo State, Monday Agbonika, has disclosed that kidnappers now use their hostages as human shields whenever the police go after them.
Agbonika, who stated this on Wednesday, May 6, 2025 at a press briefing to mark his one month in the state, said the police were also adopting new ways to check this trend and rescue kidnappers alive.
He said that seven kidnapped victims have been rescued, while 12 suspected kidnappers have been arrested, and most of them confess to the crime. He also said that 95 suspected cultists have been arrested and charged in court.
The CP said 25 firearms were also recovered within the past month, which included two AK-47 rifles, 130 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, 135 live cartridges, as well as the recovery of four stolen/robbed vehicles
Others were a Lar Mark rifle, three English pistols, one Beretta pistol, four single barrel guns among others including cash and an iPhone 16 plus
“We shall sustain engagement with communities, bush combing operations across area commands and divisions, intelligence-led raids of flashpoints and high visibility policing amongst many other strategies with a view to preventing crimes and maintaining law and order in the State,” he said.
“Our operations are not easy. Whenever kidnappers take hostages and we go after them like we are going after them now, when we come across these kidnappers, we find it difficult to fire at them because they use their hostages as human shields, and they are at liberty to fire at us
“We are working at introducing other technological assistance in tracking these kidnappers and making it easy to pick them out without hurting the victims. We want to be proactive to ensure that kidnapping does not take place.”
“He said the police was working with the state government to reform the vigilante such that they would only serve in their communities and ensure the forests were well guarded.”
