Six persons have reportedly been kidnapped by suspected Fulani herdsmen at the Dubai Estate in Awka, Anambra State, in the last three weeks.

It was equally learnt that four of the six victims paid a total of N75 million ransom before they were released. According to residents in the area, the suspected herdsmen operate along the Federal Road Safety Corps from the Onitsha – Awka- Enugu Express Way into the Dubai Estate.

At the Dubai Estate near NNPC Station connecting Dozzy Estate and Four Way junction before the second gate of Ngozika Estate, the herdsmen kidnapped a Professor who allegedly paid the sum of N31 million, while a young man driving a Toyota Highlander was kidnapped along with his fiancée and the sum of N45 million was allegedly paid as ransom.

Also a boy and two girls were kidnapped by the suspected herdsmen and it is not clear if they have been released or any ransom paid. It was also reported that a Toyota Camry salon car that was burnt in front of a fuel station along the Expressway belonged to a young man who fled from his car when the suspected Kidnappers tried to abduct him.

The gunmen allegedly shot at the car and it went up in flames while the boy ran into a building in the area for safety. When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, said the Command is on top of the investigation, but pleaded that it is not proper to begin to expose the undercover operations of the Command as it would jeopardise intelligence gathering.

At the moment residents in the area now go home early in order not to be caught napping by the suspected kidnappers. Also, residents take the second route to Dubai Estate through Ngozika Estate for safety, while motorists avoid stopping passengers at the Dubai Estate junction after 7 pm.