Security operatives have arrested a seven-man kidnapping squad at Ajowa, Akunnu and Auga in Akoko area of Ondo state.
The suspects have been terrorising residents of the Akoko communities with impunity.
Their arrest was made possible through combined efforts of soldiers, Police and Department of State Service (DSS) at Ajowa in Akoko Northwest local government area.
They met their Waterloo after abducting a 45-year old graduate teacher and Muslim Cleric, Alhaji Jamiu Zakariyahu at gunpoint last Wednesday night .
The suspected kidnappers dragged the victim from his motorcycle and immediately cover his face with mask.
Thereafter he was led into the bush by his abductors.
While recounting his ordeal, Zakariyahu said his abductors demanded a ransom of N10m which was later reduced to N5m
He said, “after dragging me into the bush, I met two other victims whose legs and hands were tied and blindfolded.
“They placed N10 million ransom on me but when the negotiating team told them that I am a teacher whose family could not afford more than N250,000, they agreed to take the offer,”
He added that some soldiers with the help of some locals that later arrested one Wasiu Mohammed, son of a prominent chief in the town by tracking the phone the bandits earlier seized from me”.
The arrest of Wasiu, according to him, paved way for the arrest of three others, while the remaining ones were still at large
