The Abia command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) says it has arrested a kidnap suspect, Kingsley Ogbonna, 35.

Commandant Paul Igwebuike disclosed this during an interactive session with journalists in his office in Umuahia on Tuesday.

Mr Igwebuike declined to disclose the victim’s identity for safety reasons and said he was rescued after five days in captivity. He said his men were on routine patrol when they received distress calls from a reliable informant.

He said the suspect, a native of Edda in Afikpo South local council of Ebonyi, was arrested by the command’s special force on July 2 for his alleged involvement in the June 29 kidnap.

The commandant said that the victim was kidnapped at the gate of his house in Aba while waiting for his gateman to open the gate for him and whisked away in his car.

He further disclosed that they demanded a N100 million ransom from his relatives. According to him, the suspects fired shots at the point of kidnap, which attracted the attention of security operatives in the area.

Mr Igwebuike said that although the hoodlums later reduced the ransom to N10 million, “our joy is that the victim was successfully released without ransom”.

He said he had since been reunited with his family.

Mr Igwebuike said the suspect was already facing prosecution and would face capital punishment in line with the extant laws of the land if convicted.

The NSCDC commandant said the command seized one AK-47 rifle, one magazine, 21 rounds of live ammunition and a cutlass. Other recovered items were seven ATM cards bearing different names and belonging to different commercial banks.

Meanwhile, the command has issued a fresh warning to those that hide under the guise of metal scrap business to vandalise, steal or sell critical national assets and infrastructure.

(NAN)