Police in Edo said on Saturday that they rescued five victims of abduction and arrested two suspects in connection with the crime committed on Friday.

Police Spokesman, SP Bello Kontongs, said in a press statement that arms and ammunition were recovered from the suspects.

He said the operatives acted on a tip off that suspected kidnappers, accosted a vehicle conveying a corpse from Lagos to Imo on the Benin-Lagos bypass, and they kidnapped three occupants of the vehicle.

“On receipt of the information, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Egba Division, SP John Emmanuel, mobilised operatives and the local vigilance group for immediate bush-combing.

“They advanced into the nearby Ute Forest and after hours of bush-combing, they came across the suspected kidnappers who opened fire on them.

“The operatives engaged the suspects in a gun duel which made the latter to abandon the victims.

“Two of the suspects, Mohammed Ishaku (25) and Mubarak Wada (26), were arrested while others escaped into the thick forest with bullet wounds.

“Three locally made guns, two live cartridges, two cutlasses and some charms were also recovered from the suspects,’’ Kontongs stated.

He said the kidnapped victims conveying the corpse were three in number and that they were rescued alongside two other victims that had earlier been abducted.

Kontongs stated also that the rescued victims had been taken to hospital while efforts were in progress to arrest the fleeing gang members.