Police parade suspected kidnappers and armed robbers
By Joseph Edeh
The Nigeria Police Force has arrested 16 suspected kidnappers and armed robbery suspects for unlawful possession of prohibited firearms in Sabo Wuse in Tafa Local Government Area of Niger.
The suspects are: Abdulkareem Isah, 48, gang leader, Ahmed Musa, Muhammadu Mustapha, 25, Abdullahi Mohammed, Abdulmalik Sadiq, Ahmed Suleiman and Yakubu Sulieman.
Others are: Yunusa Mohammed, 40, Ahmadu Musa, 23, Bashir Yero, 30, Tanko Isah, 40, Usman Adamu, 42, Usman Ibrahim, 29, Usman Bawa, 75, Sani Ahmed, 37 and Alex Egor, 33.
The Force spokesman, CSP Jimoh Moshood, disclosed this while addressing newsmen in Tafa on Thursday.
Moshood said that items recovered from the suspects are: Two AK 47 rifles, one locally made revolver pistol, Sub Machine Gun, three pump action guns and two Beretta pistol.
Others are: one air rifle, 85 rounds of 7.62, ammunition, 10 rounds of 9mm ammunition, three live cartridges, six rounds of 380 auto, five AK 47 magazines, one fabricated master key, one Toyota muscle car, two Toyota Corolla cars, one box of fake dollar notes and one Tecno cell phone.
Moshood said that the suspects were arrested on Nov. 6 after a sustained surveillance and raid of the criminals’ hideous by a combined police teams.
“All the suspects arrested confessed to the crime and admitted to the various roles they played in the commission of the crimes.
“They will be arraigned in court on completion of investigation and investigation is being intensified to arrest other suspects at large,”he said.
He said that the Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Mr Ibrahim Idris, had directed the Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIGs) and Commissioners of Police (CPs) in the zones and commands to replicate same feat on the highways and major roads.
He said that they were also to beef up security in their areas of responsibility and ensure massive deployment of armed police personnel, patrol teams and undercover operatives to black spots, flash points and other vulnerable criminal spots.
The spokesman assured that the police would sustain the ongoing raids on criminal hideouts across the country.
He said that Idris commended residents of towns and villages along Abuja – Kaduna highway for the support and assistance by always giving prompt information to the police on people suspected to be involved in criminal activities.
“The renewed commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to reduce crimes and criminal activities in the country remains unwavering, “he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Force had on July 25 commenced ‘Operation Absolute Sanity’ on Abuja-Kaduna Highway to check incessant cases of kidnappings and armed robbery.
NAN also reports that the operations were to complement the ongoing Joint Police/Military operations on ground before now.
On July 31 and Aug. 3, the police also arrested 31 and 40 suspects at Katari and Rijana areas respectively, along the Kaduna-Abuja road.
