By Donatus Okpe, Segun Omolehin and Segun Thomas
THE deployment of modern technology for tracking locations of phone calls has proved to be a dependable device for rescuing victims of kidnapping.
Consequently, Hajia Laruba Abdullahi the chairperson of Fosla Hotel, Idah and mother of the former Chairman of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Sani Lulu Abdullahi was a beneficiary of the device, which was said to have been acquired by one of the security agencies in the country.
The chairman of Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr. Wahab Oba and four others also benefitted from the device.
Kogi State Commissioner of Police Abdullahi Magaji who spoke to The Graphic in an exclusive interview after he called a press conference on the success of the rescue mission, testified that the machine was also used by the police.
He said the tracker was able to monitor the kidnappers of the woman to a place in Ubolo Afor, a boarder town in Enugu State.
Recently, it was reported that some telecommunication providers and security agencies had acquired the machine to aid security-related matters.
The Kogi State Commissioner of police pointed out that the device helped the command in moving very close to the exact location where the woman was held.
Having located the actual spot, the police, he explained made the entire environment unfriendly to discourage those who might be providing cover and information for the kidnappers.
Magaji explained that the octogenarian mother of the former NFF Chairman, was abandoned in a location in Ubolo Afor when the heat on them was unbearable.
He vowed to still get the suspected culprits arrested, adding that even though the woman was not maltreated, she was poorly fed throughout the period they held her hostage.
The Graphic team of reporters who was at the State Police Command, saw the woman in high spirit with her oldest son who declined to make any comment.
It would be recalled that Hajia Laruba was abducted by gun men on Monday 14 July, 2010 at the entrance of her residence in Idah. The bandits reportedly took her round for nearly 24 hours ostensibly looking for a suitable location to negotiate ransom, until she was rescued in Ubolo Afor on 19 July, 2010.