We Collaborate With Victims’ Relatives, Says Kidnap Suspect

The kidnap suspects, according to the Police, usually rape the female victims in their custody.

Parading the suspects yesterday at the Ibrahim Coomasie Divisional Police Station at Gawu Babangida, in Gurara Local Government Area of Niger State, Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, said the suspects were arrested at different locations.

The suspects paraded include, Isa Umar, Nuhu Yahaya, Sanda Saleh, Ali Ali, Okechukwu Atama, Mohammed Aliyu, Haruna Adamu, Adamu Bello, Abubakar Iliyasu, Safiyu Mohammed among others, adding that the suspects were arrested between August 16 and 22.

Items recovered from them include four AK-47 rifles, cutlasses, cell phones, wrist watches, military camouflage and personal effects of their victims.

Moshood noted that some of the suspects also specialised in raping their victims, noting that the suspects had made confessional statements to the Police on the various roles each of them play in their operations.

He said the arrest followed clean-up operations by the Operation Absolute Sanity in Niger, Kaduna, Benue and Kogi states.

“The operation is going to be sustained and the war against crime will be extended to every part of the country,” he said.

Confession

One of the suspects, Abubakar Mohammed, 20, from Bauchi State, said he has been in the crime for over two years, adding that the syndicate usually work with relatives of their victims before embarking on any operation.

He said they collect ransom starting from N2 million from relatives of kidnapped victims and that he used his own share of the money to invest in trading.

Also contributing, Village Head of Lambata, assured that members of his community will cooperate with the Police to fight crime in the area.

He said: “Members of the community were ready to give Police all the necessary and useful information to ensure the provision of security of lives and properties.”