A security onslaught on terrorism raged across the country on Saturday, with the police deploying the newly launched Special Intervention Squad (SIS) in the bush of Bwari, Abuja, where kidnappers have been making life unbearable for residents.
The security personnel are combing the bush to flush out the bandits and destroy their habitat.
Sixteen men linked with terrorism in the FCT and other parts of the country have similarly been arrested and were paraded yesterday by the police in Abuja.
However, another gang succeeded in killing a secondary school principal at Kuriga, Chikun Local Government area of Kaduna State while yet another group abducted an FCT resident while he was driving home with his wife on Friday.
Three of the suspects paraded in Abuja—Idris Ishaku, Dahiru Salisu and Bala Umar—were arrested by the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) following the launch of the Special Intervention Squad (SIS) by Police Inspector General Kayode Egbetokun.
The suspects, who claimed to be working as farmers and security guards in Bwari, said they used the opportunity of their job as security guards to monitor the activities of residents, especially the rich ones.
Information gathered by them would then be passed to the gang for appropriate use in kidnapping or robbery.
The trio said they got paid after each operation.
One of those paraded yesterday was the alleged kidnapper, Chinaza Phillip who was caught in the act on Thursday by the Kaduna State Police Command.
He was handed over to the Abuja Police Command on Friday. He appeared on a stretcher Saturday.
The Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, told reporters that the SIS foiled “another kidnapping plot through technical intelligence.”
Involved in the attempt were Ishaku Salisu and Umar.
He said the police recovered from the suspects various weapons.
He said: “In a proactive move, following a report on the abduction of a victim from his house along with his Hilux van with Reg. No. RBC 90 DL, gray colour, by four armed men who disguised in a white Mercedes Benz 230 car, police operatives in an intelligence-propelled investigation discovered that the victim was being taken to Kano State but was dispossessed of his ATM cards in Kaduna while the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N500,000.00) was transferred from his account.
“The suspects, however, ran out of luck as they were intercepted by police operatives at a filling station in Kaduna, where three of them escaped, while one by the name of Chinaza Philip Okoye Michael was arrested. The victim was rescued unhurt, and the said Hilux Van recovered.
“It was discovered that Chinaza Philip Okoye Michael and his accomplices had earlier been arrested sometime in November 2023 and charged for similar offences, at the High Court, Kwali, Abuja, but went back to committing even worse crimes while on court bail.
“Also, operatives of the DFI-IRT office intercepted one Everest Magaji, a gunrunner, during negotiation with some notorious bandits who are currently at large, for the purchase and supply of illicit firearms and ammunition. Eleven (11) pistols and two (2) pump-action guns were recovered from the suspect.”
Continuing, Adejobi said, “I am proud to announce to you today that the result of our relentless efforts in fighting crime is surely paying off.
“In today’s parade of suspects, we have a total of 16 suspects arrested by the operatives of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) and the Anti-Violence Crime section of the FCT. The anti-kidnapping section of the FCT has arrested some suspects.
“Those suspects have all given their confessional statements and are still providing our operatives with more relevant information to help in their operation of other criminals and to further tackle crimes and criminality.
“We have also recovered a total of five AK 47 guns, 11 pistols, two pump action guns, one English-made pistol, and 65 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition that were used for AK 47, seven rounds of 9mm live ammunition for pistols from the apprehended suspects which will serve as evidence for prosecution of these various cases.
“It is important to us to know that immediately after the IGP launched the Special Intervention Squad (SIS) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), these achievements started rolling in.”
On Ishaku, Salisu and Umar, the PPRO said they were arrested on Tuesday after the commander “received intelligence that a GSM number under surveillance belonged to one Idris Isiaku a.k.a. Yellow made a call to another number, informing the recipient of the call of his plans to carry out a kidnapping operation at Degiem House and further stating that he had invited some other kidnapping gangs who had promised to execute the mission with him.
“On January 16, 2024, Idris Isiaku held another GSM belonging to another who was later identified as Dogo and informed him that the civil servant in their captivity is a very wealthy man and should not be let go for any sum less than N50 million.
“He further stated that he was still monitoring one other person (name withheld for security reasons) located in Niger State.”
He said the investigation so far has shown that the trio was involved in several kidnapping activities in the FCT, including some that occurred in the Bwari axis.
He said the police were intensifying efforts to rescue the hostages in their captivity and make sure that other members of the gang are apprehended immediately. “I want to say that with these ones with us, we are going to heave a sigh of relief in the FCT.”
Idris told reporters that he was lured into kidnapping by love of money.
He confessed to having taken part in two operations.
His words: “I am 27 years old, and I live in Bwari. I am not married. I am a farmer, I work as a security guard, and money made me join the kidnapping business.
“I have joined in two kidnapping operations. Last year, I joined another operation. In the first operation of Kuchiko in Bwari, I collected N600,000. Then, for the second operation, I collected N500,000 around the Bwari area. I don’t handle guns, but I work with the people that use guns during operations. I am an informant.”
Salisu said, “I stay in Bwari. I am the supervisor of the camp where these kidnappers come and hold their meetings before they go out for operations.”
Reporters were later taken to Bwari where the SIS was combing the bush to fish out kidnappers.
Police take over kidnappers’ Abuja route, arrest own men for kidnapping, extorting of $3000 from victim
The SIS Commander, Police Commissioner Ben Igwe, told reporters that the squad had taken over a route in Ushafa, Bwari Area Council, allegedly used by kidnappers to move their victims out of Abuja into Kaduna, Niger, Nasarawa, and Kogi states.
“This route where we are is the bandits’ route. From Oshafa here, they’ll move through this route and go to Pappe, from Pappe they’ll enter areas like Maitama or Asokoro,” he said.
“So, when they pick someone, this is the route they pass through. If they pick someone from Maitama, Asokoro or Pappe, they’ll go towards the back of Pappe. From this position, if you move forward, you’ll be surprised at how we’ll descend into Maitama.
“This is their route. What we have done now is deploy a lot of intelligence on this route because we have a lot of intelligence at our disposal. This is one of their major routes. We are inside their route now.”
He assured residents of FCT that the police were doing everything possible to dislodge the kidnappers.
Igwe called for the cooperation of Bwari residents to further achieve a positive and needed result.
In a curious development, the Rivers State Police Command confirmed that it had arrested some of its personnel for allegedly kidnapping a man in neighbouring Abia State and extorting $3,000 from him.
The suspects were alleged to have moved their victim to Rivers and Bayelsa states through Ughelli, Delta State, after arresting him.
They later abandoned him in Port Harcourt after collecting the money from him.
Spokesperson for the Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the incident, saying the matter was under investigation.
Iringe-Koko, in a statement titled “Re: $3000 USDT Transferred to Police Officers WALLET”, said: “The police personnel have been identified and arrested while the investigation is in progress. The outcome will be made public as soon as it is concluded.
Assessing the war against banditry in Katsina State, Police Commissioner Aliyu Musa said the major challenge for him and his men was the increasing activities of informants who were supplying intelligence to criminals.
Musa, speaking during an interactive session with journalists in Katsina, said the situation was undermining police efforts.
“The activities of informants are our major challenge. Whenever we planned an operation, the bandits would have already been informed about our coming, and they would have taken measures to shield themselves on our approach.”
He said that despite this development, the police “are making progress in the war against banditry and other associated crimes because we have the capacity to defeat them.”
He said 369 rapists, 258 armed robbers, and 64 kidnappers were arrested by the command last year.
He also stated that the efforts of its operatives led to the safe rescue of 171 individuals who had been abducted
He said ’’a total of 1,627 suspects were apprehended in connection with 938 reported major cases. Of these, 395 cases have been taken to court and are currently undergoing prosecution in competent courts across the state.
“Furthermore, a total of 495 suspects were arrested for a variety of other offences’’.
Bandits kill school principal, abduct wife, and kill sons in Kaduna
Killed at Kuriga, Kaduna State, by gunmen on Friday was Malam Idris Abu Sufyan after he put up resistance against an attack on his family.
The bandits had stormed the late Sufyan’s residence in the community on the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari highway with a view to abducting his wife and baby.
It was gathered that the deceased resisted the action of the gunmen who turned their guns on him.
He died on the spot. The terrorists still abducted their targets.
Sufyan was, until his death, principal of Government Secondary School (GSS) Kuriga.
The Kaduna State Police Command could not confirm the incident at press time. The Command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, said that he would make an inquiry and get back to our correspondent.
However, Senator Shehu Sani, who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th National Assembly, said on his verified X handle that the bandits “succeeded in kidnapping two women.”
He said, “Mallam Idris Abu Sufyan, Principal GSS Kuriga, Chikun LG, Kaduna State, was killed by bandits when he tried to resist abduction.
“They succeeded in kidnapping two women in the process. May his soul rest in peace. Amen.”
A resident of the village, Aliyu Kuriga, said the late principal was attacked in his house on Friday night and was shot before his wife and son were taken away by the bandits.
Gunmen abduct man driving home with wife in Abuja
Gunmen also abducted Abdullahi Sabo, a resident of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) while he was driving home with his wife on Friday.
The gunmen intercepted Sabo’s vehicle at Sabon-Lugbe on the Abuja Airport Road.
The victim was driving in his grey Lexus SUV with registration number ABC 769 TP when the gunmen struck.
They opened fire on Sabo’s vehicle and deflated the tyres of the car.
This incident occurred less than 48 hours after gunmen invaded the Army Estate in Kurudu, Abuja, and abducted some residents.
All efforts to get the reaction of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, yesterday were futile as calls and text messages to her phone went unanswered.
Reports by Usman Abdullah
