Police arrest Chadian, Nigerien kidnap suspects, recover N10m

The police, on Monday, in Abuja, paraded 81 suspected kidnappers, armed robbers and cyber scammers arrested in Taraba, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara states.

Among the suspects were members of a gang made up of Chadian and Nigerien suspected kidnappers and six ex-convicts, who abducted a Sokoto businessman.

They were apprehended by the Intelligence Response Team and the Special Tactical Squad of the Nigeria Police Force, which also nabbed members of a kidnap gang dressed in military camouflage and Nigerian Air Force uniform.

The Sokoto abductors, who formed their gang while serving terms in the Katsina Correctional Centre, are Rufai Muhammed, 25; Isah Abdullahi, 25; Abdulrasheed Labaran, 26; Abba Zayyanu, 22; Ayuba Awwalu, 35; and Rabiu Ibrahim, 27.

Speaking through an interpreter, Muhammed, who is the gang leader said, “We became friends when we were serving jail terms in the Katsina Correctional Centre. During interaction, we got to know that we were about completing our jail terms. That was when we decided to shift from armed robbery to kidnapping. This is because we knew that we would make more money from it.”

According to him, their first target was a Sokoto-based businessman, whose family parted with millions of naira.

The suspect stated that his gang operated on the Zaria-Kaduna-Kano Expressway 12 times, adding that they collected several millions of naira in ransom from their victims’ families.

The sum of N10.1m was recovered from them as well as rifles and rounds of live ammunition.

Parading the suspects, the force spokesman, DCP Frank Mba, said members of a kidnap gang, which killed four policemen, were also nabbed, while police rifles were recovered from them.

A member of another kidnap gang, who usually dressed in military camouflage, Imuranu Ibrahim, explained that the gang had carried out six robberies on the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway.

Speaking through an interpreter, he said, “I am a farmer and also an armed robber. I have engaged in six robberies before I was arrested.

“We were on a robbery operation on the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway when we saw a car conveying a man, his wife, mother and their two children.

“We pulled out the woman from the vehicle and raped her in the presence of her husband, children and mother-in-law.”

Another member of the gang, Dayabu Saadu, said, “A Fulani man from Jaji provided the military uniform we are wearing.”