Police detectives in Akwa Ibom state have arrested three suspected members of a kidnap syndicate as the leader went to pick up N3 million ransom from relatives of a kidnapped victim.

The suspects – Austin Agba, 35; Friday Sunday Paul, 23, and Christian Ekenu, 27 were nabbed at Olympus Hotel, along Afaha Uqua Road, Eket Local Government Area of the state, the venue for the pick-up.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, ASP Cordelia Nwawe, who paraded the suspects before newsmen in Ikot Akpan Abia, Uyo, the state capital yesterday, said they were members of the same gang.

The PPRO assured that the police, under Mr. Murtala Mani, was equal to the task of making the state uncomfortable for criminals.

The alleged leader of the gang, Agba, in his confession, denied being a kidnapper but a middleman between pirates and the various fishermen groups operating along the Ibeno-Opobo water way.

Agba said it was true he was at the hotel when he was arrested but that he went to the hotel to collect the N3 million he had negotiated for the pirates from the fishermen when the police apprehended him.

The Bayelsa State-born Agba said he was only a middleman.

“I am just an Ijaw man and a middleman to the Ijaw fishermen and the pirates. So, there are certain groups of fishermen that normally contribute money to the pirates to make sure they do their businesses smoothly.

“When the pirates had a meeting with the fishermen, they said I am the one that would be negotiating the monthly payment.

“The fishermen said if they negotiate directly, the pirates will charge them too high, but if I intervene, the pirates will bring down the levy because I am an Ijaw brother.

“On that fateful day, I went to collect the money to settle the pirates so that they would allow the fishermen do their business. It was in the process that I was arrested,” Agba added.

Another member of the gang, Paul, said his duty was to convey victims on his motorbike.

He denied being a kidnapper saying, “I was riding my bike along Afaha Uqua Road junction when three guys stopped me. Two of them climbed the bike and told me to take them somewhere.

“On getting there, one of them put his hand in my trouser and said I must take them to where they were going to.

“They used a gun to threaten me, saying they were going for an operation. I am not one of them, they kidnapped me.”

The third suspect who hails from Oron Local Government Area told newsmen, “I came in from Lagos to meet my friend, Tony. I am an artist.

“When I arrived Oron, he asked me how much I came with and I said I did not come with any money. He called his friends and said they should take my shoes, watch and phones.

“When they went outside the room, I escaped through the ceiling and ran to the police station. Unfortunately for me, along the road, they picked me and took me to the police station, saying I was a kidnapper.

“It is for that reason that I am here. I do not understand any of these,” Ekenu said, stressing that he was set up.