Awka – The Nigeria Police said it has arrested four members of a notorious criminal gang, who have advanced plans to kidnap the Catholic Bishop of Zaria, Most Reverend George Dodo.
The gang, the Police said, was also responsible for carrying out some of the high-profile kidnap for ransom operations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kaduna, Niger, Katsina, Bauchi, and Plateau States.
The suspects include Umar Abdullahi ‘m’ 40yrs of kali Kura village, Giwa LGA, Kaduna State; Yusuf Tanimu ‘m’ 23yrs of Kurena, Zaria, Kaduna State; Mamuda Suleiman ‘m’ 40yrs of Barkin ladi, Plateau State and Abubakar Yaro ‘m’ 38yrs from Wase village, Plateau State.
Parading the suspects at the Force headquarters on Wednesday, the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba said investigations revealed that the gang are linked to series of kidnap for ransom crimes including the kidnapping of some senior staff of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, family members of notable political appointees and business entrepreneurs in Kaduna State and other contiguous State.
“Investigations also revealed that the suspects were at an advanced stage of operationalizing their plans to kidnap a Catholic Bishop in Zaria, when they were apprehended. The gang, in addition to their kidnapping enterprise, also supplies arms and ammunition to Bandits at Birnin Gwarri, kaduna State, Niger, Katsina and Zamfara States,” he said.
Mba noted that exhibits recovered from the criminals include one General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG), two (2) AK47 rifles, six thousand, five hundred and nine (6,509) live ammunition.
“Following the ongoing implementation of a robust security action plan to protect citizens and critical national infrastructure across the country, operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, have arrested a total of eighty-four (84) notorious criminal suspects within the past one month. A total of forty-five (45) sophisticated firearms and ammunition including 1-GPMG, 1-LAR rifle, 17-AK47 rifles, 2-Pump Action rifles, 20- locally fabricated firearms, 3-single barrel guns, 9899- live ammunition of different calibres, 80-fake vehicle number plates, one Toyota Camry with Reg. No. AA 792 HJA and one Toyota Corolla LE with Reg. No. QAP 622 AA, were recovered from the suspects in the operations,’ the Force PRO revealed.
Mba said all the suspects will be charged to court on completion of investigations.
He continued; “The Inspector General of Police, Ag. IGP Usman Alkali Baba, while affirming that the kinetic and non-kinetic approaches targeted at re-ordering security in the country are already yielding positive results, reassures citizens of the renewed commitment of the Force to the fight against crimes and criminality. He calls for sustained support for the Police and the security community, as efforts are intensified to enhance public safety, peace and security.”
