The Ondo State Command of the Nigeria Police Force says it raided a hideout suspected to be a kidnappers’ den along the Ore Expressway in Odigbo Local Government Area of the state.

According to the police, a thick bush along the Ore Expressway was being used by kidnappers to hide their victims while awaiting ransom payments from their family members.

The discovery of the hideout came less than a week after the 32 Artillery Brigade of the Nigerian Army busted a kidnappers’ hideout in Akoko Axis, Ondo State and arrested ten suspects.

Our correspondent reported that Ore Expressway has become dangerous for motorists due to the presence of kidnappers in the area.

In July 2017, for instance, a director from the Ondo State Board of Internal Revenue, Monisola Margaret Olaoye, was kidnapped by gunmen on the notorious road.

Gbenga Adeyanju, the commissioner of police in Ondo State, conducted a sting operation that led police to the hideout during the weekend.

Mr. Adeyanju said the police command decided to storm and clear the kidnappers’ hideout a after series of investigations carried out by the detectives showed that the criminals used the forest to carry out their kidnappings.

According to him, some suspects that were paraded by the police have confessed to using the Ore Expressway as their base for criminal operations.

The police commissioner assured reporters that his command is adequately prepared to tackle the rising cases of kidnapping, cultism and other crimes in order to ensure that the state is safe for motorists plying the roads to adjourning states.

He added that the command has also put measures in place with its regular meeting with the Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) to curb the activities of the hoodlums using the thick forests as hideouts.

Mr. Adeyanju stated that steps are being taken by the police to flush kidnappers out of the nooks and crannies of the state with the commencement of meetings with key stakeholders in the security sector.

He urged Ondo State residents to share with police useful information that could lead to the arrest of criminals.

“I have ordered for the immediate destruction of the bad spot [bush] used as dens by the kidnappers. We shall continue to flush them out until they all repent from this act.

“So, I want to appeal to the people of the state not to relent in their act of giving useful information that could lead to the arrest of these criminals,” Mr. Adeyanju said.

Meanwhile, the police arrested a 30-year-old cocoa farmer identified as Segun Akande for allegedly killing a sixty-five-year-old grandmother, Mary Ogundiran, at Ofosu community in Idanre area of the state.

Mr. Akande was nabbed by the detectives from the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) of the command over the weekend.

The culprit confessed to the crime, explaining that he killed the old woman for allegedly plucking cocoa pods from his farm after he had repeatedly warned her not to do so.

Femi Joseph, the spokesperson of the police in Ondo State, said the culprit will soon be charged to court.