The police in Rivers state say it has arrested four suspects terrorizing motorists along the Rivers and Imo highway. In a statement by the state police command spokesperson Grace Iringe-koko made available to newsmen, said the arrest of the suspects comes as part of an intensified crackdown on criminal activities along the Port Harcourt/Owerri expressway.

According to the police, the suspects were responsible for major armed robbery and kidnapping along the highway which has been a hotspot for violent attacks on motorists. Some of the recent attacks by the arrested suspects include the abduction of a National Youth Service Corps member and two others along the Elele/Omerelu axis of the expressway.

Preliminary investigation by the police revealed that the gang would frequently set up illegal roadblocks at strategic points along the expressway before attacking motorists at gunpoint and taking hostage for ransom. Their arrest was said to have been possible by men of the Anti-kidnapping unit of the Rivers state police command at Egbeda community in Rivers state where they are all indigene. The suspect has all confessed to the crime according to the police.