The police in Edo State has confirmed the arrest of three members of the kidnap gang who abducted Dr. Ibrahim Babatunde Abu and Tahir Abu.
The Abu brothers were kidnapped after close of work at about 7.30 pm on January 1, 2026, at the gate of their residence, along City Pride Road, Igbira Camp in Auchi, Etsako West Local Government Area of the State.
The kidnappers who demanded ₦200 million ransom, later killed the younger brother, Tahir, and insisted on collecting the sum of ₦100 million ransom for Babatunde.
The police in a statement Sunday evening by the Command’s Spokesperson, Eno Ikoedem, disclosed that the three suspect ts were arrested on two different occasions.
She disclosed that the first breakthrough came on February 3, 2026, when operatives of the Auchi Division, while conducting a routine bush-combing operation in collaboration with local hunters and vigilante groups, at Warake Forest following a lead on an intelligence, intercepted one Saminu Kawujie.
An identification parade was conducted at the Police station and he was identified by as one of the abductors of Dr Abu Babatunde, she said.
The two other suspects, Idris Abubakar and Sani Abubakar, were arrested at the premises of the Auchi General Hospital where Dr. Abu works.
Sources had it that the suspects had visited the hospital to see a patient when the doctor identified them as members of the gang responsible for his abduction and the killing of his younger brother during the incident.
The source added that Dr. Tahir immediately alerted local security operatives. Police officers subsequently moved in and arrested two suspects, who are now being detained at the Auchi Divisional Police Station for further investigation.
Cirroborating the story, the police statement said:
Similarly, on 08/02/2026 at about 0900hrs, the Divisional Police Officer following a lead on the same case mobilized operatives to the Specialist Hospital, Auchi, where two suspects identified as Idris Abubakar M and Sani Abubakar M, were apprehended at the hospital premises.
Both suspects have also been identified as part of the gang that abducted Dr. Babatunde on 02/01/2026.
Idris Abubakar was identified as the particular person who received ransom money for the release of Dr. Abu, the statement added.
Ikoedem added that effort have been intensified towards conducting a comprehensive and discreet investigation aimed at dismantling the entire notorious organized criminal network responsible for the kidnappings in Auchi and its environs.
Meanwhile, reports of alleged pressure to release the suspects have continued to generated concern within the community.
