POLICE RESCUE 25 IVORIAN NATIONALS FROM KIDNAPPERS, ARREST EIGHT SUSPECTS

Eight suspects were arrested during the coordinated rescue operation, which was carried out in partnership with Interpol.

Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, disclosed in a statement on Friday that the operation followed a formal request from the National Central Bureau in Abidjan.

The request was prompted by a complaint from Kaussi Marianman, who reported that her son, Ladji Yoa Pierre, was deceived into traveling to Nigeria by suspects Simon Oliver and Michael Odunga under the pretext of helping him secure travel documents to Belgium.

Upon arrival, Adejobi said Pierre was held captive, and the suspected kidnappers demanded a ransom of 2.5 million CFA francs, approximately ₦6.6 million.

He said, “The operation was triggered by a report filed on April 23rd, 2025, by Mrs. Kaussi Amenan Marianman at NCB Abidjan alleging that her son, Ladji Yoa Pierre, had been lured to Nigeria under false pretenses by some individuals who were later identified as Simon Oliver and Michael Odunga, promised to facilitate his travel documents to Belgium.

“Once in Nigeria, Ladji Yoa Pierre was held captive, with the abductors demanding a ransom of two million five hundred CFA (equivalent to six million six hundred and twenty-five thousand Naira).”

According to Adejobi, the Commissioner of Police at INTERPOL Annex Lagos, Bode Ojajuni, swiftly dispatched a team of seasoned investigators to apprehend the suspects and rescue the victims.

He explained that on May 5, 2025, operatives raided Osehi Hotel in Ado-Odo Ota, Ogun State, successfully rescuing two victims and arresting two suspects.

A subsequent operation in Ejegun Itele, within the same locality, led to the rescue of 23 more victims—including Ladji Yoa Pierre—and the arrest of an additional six suspects.