By Odita Sunday
A woman abducted at the entrance of her residence in Sapele, Delta State, has been rescued unharmed after an overnight police operation mounted pressure on her kidnappers and forced them to abandon their victim and flee.
The rescue was one of two major breakthroughs recorded by the Delta State Police Command in its ongoing operations against kidnapping and violent crime, with eight suspects also arrested in Abraka and three locally made pistols and suspected illicit drugs recovered.
In a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, Delta State Command, Asaba, SP. Bright Edafe, on Friday, September 4, 2026, the woman was ambushed by armed men at about 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday, September 2, while attempting to drive into her residence along Eko Amukpe Road.
According to the Police, the assailants fired several shots into the air before taking the woman into a nearby bush.
Following a distress report, the Divisional Police Officer, Sapele Division, immediately mobilised patrol and surveillance teams to the scene, where expended AK-47 ammunition shells were recovered.
Police operatives, supported by local vigilantes, subsequently launched an intensive search of the surrounding bushes, which continued throughout the night into the morning of Thursday, September 3.
The sustained operation, according to the Command, mounted pressure on the kidnappers, forcing them to abandon the woman and flee.
She was later located and rescued unharmed before being reunited with her family.
The Command said it had intensified efforts to track down and arrest the fleeing kidnappers.
### Eight Arrested, Guns, Drugs Recovered
In a separate operation in Abraka, operatives of the Command’s Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU), acting on credible intelligence, raided suspected criminal black spots in connection with an ongoing investigation into an attempted murder reported on September 3.
The operation resulted in the arrest of eight suspects identified as Evans Adamda, Mamatime Micheal, Wale Morakinya, Anabono, Godspower, Theophilus Philip, Robinson Oghenewiro and Inoni Ejiroghene.
The Police said three locally made pistols, Tramadol and other suspected illicit drugs were recovered during the operation.
The suspects and recovered exhibits are currently in police custody as investigators work to establish their individual involvement in the alleged attempted murder and other criminal activities in the area.
The Commissioner of Police, Delta State Command, CP Samuel E. Erale, psc, mnips, commended the police operatives and local vigilantes for their contributions to the operations.
CP Samuel E. Erale reaffirmed the Command’s determination to sustain intelligence-led operations and decisive action against kidnappers, cultists and other criminal elements across the state.
He assured residents that the Command would continue to identify criminal hideouts, arrest offenders and recover illicit weapons.
The Commissioner also urged members of the public to support the Police by providing timely and credible information that could assist ongoing efforts to combat crime across Delta State.
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