According to Punch on Friday, July 3, 2026, kidnapping victim Gloria Inyanugbo has recounted how victims abducted in Estako West Local Government Area of Edo State regained their freedom and how police later arrested several suspects linked to the crime.
Speaking at the Edo State Police Command headquarters during the parade of the suspects, Inyanugbo said 11 farmers who were abducted while working on their farms escaped after their captors fell asleep in the forest following an overnight trek.
Unlike the others, Inyanugbo said she remained in captivity for four days before her husband secured her release after paying a ₦3 million ransom.
She said she recognised some of the suspects during the police parade and expressed surprise at their arrest.
“The community vigilante nabbed two of them inside the bush and the police arrested others through tracking. I saw one of them who boasted that nobody could do anything to him. I can’t imagine that the police could arrest them,” she said.
Inyanugbo credited the arrests to the combined efforts of local vigilantes and the Edo State Police Command, which she said used intelligence and technology to track down the remaining suspects.
