The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has within the last two weeks arrested 92 armed robbers, 153 kidnappers and rescued 35 kidnapped victims.
This is even as the Force recovered 7 stolen vehicles, arrested 9 suspected cultists, and recovered 44 arms and 477 ammunition of various calibres.
Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi disclosed this while parading the suspects in Abuja, on Wednesday, February 6, 2024.
Giving the breakdown, Adejobi said, “in today’s briefing, we have a total of 34 arrested suspects, 7 Ak-47 rifles, 9 automatic pistols, 1804 rounds of live ammunition, a POS Machine, assorted illicit drugs, and 1 Mazda Saloon Car”.
Narrating how the suspects were arrested, he said, “on 9th of February 2024, operatives of the FID-IRT received intelligence on the activities of a syndicate of Transborder gunrunners operating in Plateau state to other parts of the country and by extension, supplying arms and ammunition to some criminal elements beyond the borders of the country.
“The IRT Operatives utilized this information and arrested the following principal suspects: (1) Mahos Jatau Mancha a.k.a Adis (2) Justin Abugieye a.k.a Austin (3) Joseph Zingkur Ayuba a.k.a Zed (4) Davou Chuwang and (5) Yakubu Benedict Bonat a.k.a VIP.
“During investigation, it came to light that the said Justin Abugieye is a Transborder Arms and ammunition supplier based in Obudu LGA of Cross River State who usually gets supplies of AK47 rifles, ammunition, and rocket launcher from the Mahos Jatau Mancha, Joseph Zingkur Ayuba, Davou Chuwang, Yakubu Benedict Bonat, all in Plateau state and in turn supplies same to some rebels and other criminal elements in a neighboring country.
“One of the suspects, Yakubu Benedict Bonat confessed to having sold 4 Ak-47 rifles to Justin Abugieye, the first which he said belonged to his late father who was a police officer, and he had sold it to Justin instead of handing it over to legal authorities while the others, he had locally fabricated and had sold to Justin.
“Another of the suspects, Ibrahim Maji, happens to be a middleman who was present when Justin had sold 3 Ak-47 rifles to one Shetto Dogo and had collected another Ak-47 rifle and 16 live ammunitions to personally deliver to Shetto Dogo before his apprehension.
“One Lucy Ogar, the female lover and accomplice of Justin who usually accompanies him to take delivery and supply of the arms and ammunition, as well as one Paulina Abugieye, his younger sister who assists him in delivering arms to buyers were also arrested. A factory operated by the said Joseph Zingkur Ayuba in his house at Kuru, Jos, Plateau state, where he fabricates arms was also discovered.
“Another suspect; Davou Chuwang who supplies ammunition to Joseph Zingkur was also arrested and while in custody, he was contacted by Majahid Muhammad Kyari and Buhari Musa who requested to purchase 2 Ak-47 rifles from him.
“They agreed to meet him to inspect the rifles and were immediately arrested by the operatives of the IRT at the agreed meet point. Interrogation revealed that Majahid had earlier been in business with Davou Chuwang and had in the past, purchased 50 rounds of 9mm live ammunition from him and trusted him to deliver this time around also”, he said.
The Force PRO also said, “on the 12th of February, 2024, operatives of the FID-IRT received intelligence of a group of persons suspected to be involved in arms dealing and kidnapping at Sutai, Bali LGA of Taraba State.
“The operatives buckled down and arrested 2 persons identified as Modo Haruna ‘m’ 28 years and Buba Ruwa ‘m’ 30 years, both at Taraba State.
“Subsequent interrogation and investigation revealed that Buba Ruwa had been in possession of 12 Ak-47 rifles about 2 years ago, but was intercepted by police operatives while returning from an operation and had fled and managed to escape with just 2 Ak-47 rifles.
“The other suspect, Modo Haruna, confessed to being in possession of a single Ak-47 rifle and also belonging to a syndicate that specializes in gun running and cattle rustling. Efforts are being intensified to arrest other members of this syndicate and terminate the entire network”, he said.
The Spokesperson further said, “based on credible intelligence, about the activities of some kidnappers/informants terrorizing the Kaduna/Zaria area, Operatives attached to Operation SIS from FID-IRT, FHQ. Abuja swung into action and arrested one Falalu Abdulmumuni ‘m’ of Audi village 30 years, who admitted and confessed to belonging to a gang of kidnappers numbering over 20 in strength, and one Abdulkarim Abdilkadir AKA Kato who happens to be their informant.
“Upon arrest, Falalu also confessed to having actively participated in two kidnapping operations with his gang where they took the victims to Garke Forest held them captive for 21 days, and later collected a ransom of 1.1 million and he was given 50,000 as his share.
“The suspect confessed to owning an AK-47 rifle which he paid 300,000 and Yaroro, his gang leader had completed the balance before the acquisition of the weapon and is in current possession of this weapon at their stronghold in the bush.
“The suspect, Falalu also confessed that he and his gang members, headed by Yaroro had met at Dumbi Dutsen Abba and proceeded to the residence of one Ardo Shaibu at Dorayi village, Kaduna State, where they shot and killed said Ardo Shaibu and his entire family, eradicating his lineage because they had approached him to join their gang and he had refused. The suspect’s residence was searched and a locally made gun that he kept at home was recovered by the operatives.
“The other suspect, Hamza Aliyu upon interrogation confessed that he joined the kidnapping gang headed by Yaroro and later invited his gang to kidnap his younger sister Ladidi because he had earlier begged her to borrow him the sum of N50,000 but she refused.
“After her kidnap, his father and his sister’s husband had paid the sum of one million naira for her release and he received the sum of N100,000 from his gang as his share of the ransom. Investigation is still in progress and efforts and measures are being put in place to ensure the arrest of every member of this notorious gang”, he disclosed.
Adejobi said, “following the incident of the kidnapping of the children and staff of Apostolic Faith School Emure Ekiti State and their subsequent release, operatives of the Nigeria Police Force have recently made the arrest of one Shehu Daru who has been identified as one of the kidnappers involved in the ungodly act.
“The suspect, Shehu Tailo ‘M’ 27yrs was arrested in Gbugbu area, Edu LGA, Kwara state and he was identified by one of the victims of the kidnapping to be one of the kidnappers.
“He confessed to being in a four-man kidnapping gang responsible for the kidnap of the children and staff of Apostolic Faith School, Emure Ekiti and that they had intercepted the vehicle conveying the victims along the road and upon interception, they killed the driver and burnt his body while the victims were taken to their camp.
“The suspect also confessed to having gone into kidnapping because of idleness and has been involved for over two years and had taken part in two other kidnappings at Taraba State and Adamawa State where he received a share of one million naira and two hundred thousand naira respectively. He claims he did not receive anything for the kidnapping carried out in Ekiti State”, he said.
He said, “following an intelligence received by the operatives of the FID-IRT on the 16th of January 2024, on the activities of one chance operators at the Gwagwalada, Area 1, AYA, Giri and Wuse axis of the FCT, the operatives swung into action and immediately traced the activities of these criminals which eventually led to their arrest on the 19th of February 2024 at their hideout located at Karimo, FCT.
“Upon their arrest and consequent interrogation, the suspects confessed to being specialized in carrying out “one-chance” operations and have been running it for over a year.
“On the 28th of December 2023, at about 12 noon, One Ndifreke Friday ‘f’ made a report to the operatives of the FID-STS that one Elijah ‘m’ who she had employed to work for her as a fashion designer abandoned his work post and had fled with her iPhone 14 pro, iWatch Series 6, dell laptop, JBL Charge Bluetooth speaker and the cash sum of 1700 USD.
“The operatives placed efforts into gear and apprehended the suspect on 12th of February 2024 at ¬¬¬¬Badagry road, Lagos.
“Upon his arrest and subsequent interrogation, the suspect confessed to the crime and stated that he had initially worked in Lagos as a fashion designer and received a request from the complainant to come and work for her at Abuja, to which he agreed since it the offer was better than what he had then.
“He had been in her service where he was provided work space and accommodation.
“About 2 weeks after working for her, he was no longer satisfied with the pay and when the complainant was not present, he saw it as an opportunity to steal her valuable items and flee with it.
“After stealing these items and converting the foreign currency into Naira, he fled to Lagos with the hope of escaping into the wind, but he met retribution when the operatives of the FID-STS traced him and apprehended him at Lagos”, he said.
Again, he said, “on the 5th of December 2023, one Mr. Onah Abraham made a report that sometime in the month of September 2023, a handwritten letter was dropped at his wife’s shop with the inscription; “LEAVE ABUJA IMMEDIATELY, THEY ARE AFTER YOU, THERE IS A BIG HIT ON YOUR FAMILY. TAKE YOUR KIDS AND RUN, JUST A WARNING”.
“This had prompted him to take his family and relocate to his sister-in-law’s place, but the threat continued and he even received a message from an unknown number asking him to sell his house and leave Abuja immediately or risk being kidnapped.
“On sensing the severity of the matter, he filed a legal report and the operatives of the FID-STS quickly swung into action and arrested one Eju Divine ‘f’ 27 years of age. Investigation revealed the suspect as a close family friend and neighbor of the complainant and that she had initially collected the sum of fourteen million naira from him under the guise of operating a crayfish business with the promise of investing it on his behalf in the business and returning it with profit.
“She had earlier done the same to several other people under the same guise, and after lavishing the obtained sum of money and realizing she could not pay back, she decided to defraud the complainant to pay the people she had owed.
“She had falsely obtained an estimated sum of twenty-four million naira and upon realization of her inability to pay back, she sorted to scare tactics to drive the complainant out of town so he would not request for the money back.
“She had even advised him to go ahead and sell the house as suggested by the supposed anonymous text after he had told her about the threats and the texts”, he said.
He narrated that “on the 1st of March 2024 at about 1530HRS, operatives of the FID-STS while on investigation activities in Gusau, Zamfara State, arrested one Shehu Usman ‘m’ of Bungidu LGA Zamfara State. Upon interrogation, the suspect confessed to belonging to a kidnapping syndicate involved in the kidnapping of 40 female students of Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State.
“He stated that the victims were taken to Birnin-Gwari forest of Kaduna State and were separated into 2 camps with each camp having 20 female victims each.
“The suspect confirmed the release of 9 victims from his camp and the death of 5 victims but claims to have no knowledge of the activities in the other camp. He also confessed to having received a sum of Fifty thousand naira as his ransom share for the operation”, he said.
Adejobi said, “on the 1st of March 2024, operatives of the FID-IRT acting on credible intelligence, stormed Ogugu village in Jos, Plateau State, and made the arrest of one Yakubu Mohammed ‘m’, Zubairu Ibrahim ‘m’ and Isiaka Musa ‘m’ . 1 AK-47 rifle with a magazine containing 4 rounds of live ammunition was found in the possession of Yakubu Mohammed and he confessed to had purchased it about 10 years ago at the sum of N260,000.
“The second suspect, Zubairu Ibrahim confessed to being part of a kidnapping syndicate that operates along the Obolo forest, Benue-Enugu express road. He stated that he had participated in two kidnappings involving 13 and 15 victims respectively and had been given the sum of N500,000 for each operation as his share of the ransom, stating further that he owns 2 Ak-47 rifles which are currently in the possession of one Ardo of Ado LGA, Plateau State.
“The third suspect, Isiaka Musa ‘m’ confessed to owning 1 Ak-47 rifle which he had also purchased ten years ago at the sum of N260,000, while the fourth suspect who was arrested at Odoba Otukpo, Benue State confessed to owning one Pump action gun illegally obtained and has disclosed the location of the arm to the operatives for it to be retrieved”, he said.
According to him, “on the 27th of February 2024 at about 0940HRS, operatives attached to the FID-STS on investigation activities arrested one Alhaji Habibu Isah ‘m’ age 40 of Lafiya village, Zamfara State.
“Upon consequent interrogation and investigation, the suspect confessed to being affiliated with a notorious bandit syndicate under the leadership of one Namada who happens to be his uncle.
“He also confessed to being a custodian of all types of grains harvested by the farmers in the area and seized by the bandits and also to being a link between the bandits and the villagers, giving all sorts of information to the bandits.
“He admitted to having made a huge sum of money in his 10 years of operating with the bandits and of the attained proceeds, he has purchased a Toyota Hiace Bus”, he said.
The PRO noted that the mandate of securing the lives and property of the citizens and ridding the country of criminal elements was core to the Police, and the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun has charged the men of the Force to remain resolute in discharging their duties and ensuring all necessary measures/strategies are being implemented for a safer environment for everyone.
