"He has been pretending to be a mad man all this while and he was caught with two phones. When he was given the beating of his life, he confessed he came from Edo State and has been kidnapping people in Akure for some time," the witness said.
A middle-aged man said to be pretending to be mentally challenged was caught in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on Monday while parading the streets.
Witnesses claimed he was in search of kidnap victims.
The man, whose appearance was dishevelled, was apprehended at the Orita Obele Estate area of the town.
Witnesses told SaharaReporters that the suspected kidnapper was caught with two mobile phones.
One of the witnesses, Ojo Ayobami, said the culprit was immediately handed over to a vigilante group.
Ayobami explained that the man claimed to have come from Edo to Ondo State in search of victims, stating that “he was caught on Monday morning around Orita-Obele Estate, along roadblock, Akure, Ondo State".
"He was caught by some good Nigerians who had been on his trail for about two weeks on the suspicion that he is a kidnapper," he said.
"He has been pretending to be a mad man all this while and he was caught with two phones. When he was given the beating of his life, he confessed he came from Edo State and has been kidnapping people in Akure for some time. Unfortunately, he refused to name those he was working for and while people were planning to lynch him, the police quickly intervened.”
Femi Joseph, Spokesman of the Ondo State Police Command, confirmed the arrest of the supposed ‘mad man’, noting that the Police would further investigate the suspect’s activities.