The Department of State Service has arrested a nursing mother and five others over their alleged involvement in the kidnap of toddlers in Ondo State.
The DSS said the suspects were members of a syndicate who specialised in abducting toddlers in the state.
Parading the suspects at the DSS headquarters, in Akure, the state capital on Monday, the state director of the agency, Jonathan Kure, said the syndicate had been terrorising the state by allegedly kidnapping toddlers between the ages of two and four years.
Kure said that following the directive of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and the support of its Director-General and that of the Ondo State Government, the agency launched an operation to track down and arrest the suspects.
According to him, the nursing mother among the syndicate helped them keep their weapons for the members of the group and she was also a wife to one of them.
“They (the suspects) have tormented so many families, especially within Akure, following the directive of President Buhari and support of our DG, we were able to launch a crackdown.
“You can see that they are young men, what is even more touching is that one of their members is a nursing mother and wife of one of the kidnappers, she also plays a dual role of being in charge of the armoury of the group,” the Director stated.
Kure said the suspects would soon be charged to court as further investigation into the matter was ongoing.
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Some of the items recovered from the suspects included; laptops, cash, locally-made guns and cash.
In his remarks, the state Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who was present at the DSS office during the parade of the suspects, said the government was committed to adequately securing the lives and properties of residents of the state.
Aiyedatiwa urged landlords to always do proper profiling of their tenants and know the kind of work they do before letting out their houses.
He said, “Security is everybody’s business, if you notice anyone that is living above his means, let security check the person out.”
