Police Arrest Nine Kidnappers Of Taraba Lawmaker After Collecting N30m Ransom

Nine criminal suspects responsible for the kidnap of Honourable Mohammed Bashir Bape, Member, Taraba State House of Assembly in December 2020 have been arrested.

The suspects were apprehended at their various hideouts in Taraba and Plateau States following an intense search by the Police team for the perpetrators of the crime and follow-up on recent spike in Kidnapping and armed robbery in Taraba and the North-Central States of the Country.

The suspects, Yusuf Abubakar, 31 years is a native of Jalingo LGA Taraba state, Muntari Umar, 27 years, a native of Mayo Belwa LGA Adamawa State, Ahmadu Dahiru, 28 years, a native of Lau LGA, Taraba State, Ali Alhaji Wurungo, 25 years, a native of Lau LGA Taraba State, Buhari Nuhu, 25 years, a native of Jalingo LGA, Mohd GARBA, 30 years, a native of Mararaban Gasol, Taraba State, Yusuf Jibrillah 23 years, native of Mararaban Gasol Taraba State, Adamu Ahmadu aka Bulala 32 years, a native of Taraba State and one Idi Suleiman.

          
The Force Spokesperson, Commissioner of Police (CP) Frank Mba, while parading the suspects on Thursday, at Abuja said, investigations by the Police team revealed that the suspects are members of a notorious armed robbery and kidnapping syndicate that specializes in terrorizing innocent citizens in the North-Central and North East States particularly in Plateau and Taraba States.

According to him, “Police investigations have uncovered the roles played by each member of the gang during the kidnap of the Honourable Member. Investigations also established how the proceeds of the crime (ransom) were shared among the suspects.

Following the flag-off of ‘Operation Puff Adder II’ by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu on 15th February, 2021, to reinvigorate the ongoing fight against violent crimes in the country and bring the perpetrators to book, Mba noted that, the operatives of the FIB Intelligence Response Team and Special Tactical Squad of the Force attached to the Operation Puff Adder II have arrested 48 criminal suspects, including 47 male and one female.

He said they were arrested for their involvement and indictment in cases of armed robbery, kidnapping, unlawful possession of firearms, cybercrime and financial fraud and other heinous crimes in some parts of the country.

“He further stated that, 41 prohibited firearms, including 14 AK47 rifles, 10 AK47 Magazines, 58 live cartridges, four AK47 live ammunition, four POS Machines, two laptop computers, 18 mobile phones, Internet MODEM and nine ATM cards were recovered from the suspects in the operations.”

The Police operatives also arrested a 12-man cybercrime syndicate for internet fraud and other cyber-related offences.

The suspects, with their ages within the range Capital 30, were arrested at a residence in the Kubwa area of the Federal capital Territory (FCT), Abuja following intelligence received by the Police.

Similarly, Mba Sid, the Police team have busted a two-man gang of a 61-year-old physically challenged man, Musa Usman, from Kea bi State who resides in Anambra State and one Ahmed Shuaibu, 27 years, native of Nasarawa State for complicity in the distribution and sale of illicit and dangerous drugs to bandits in their camps at Babuga, Nasarawa State.

“The physically challenged man has been taking advantage of his physical state to evade police attention until his eventual arrest. Thirty-five wraps of subInspector-General to are Cocaine was recovered from the suspects.

“The Inspector General of Police, while noting that the Operation Puff Adder II is already yielding positive results barely ten 10 days after it was flagged-off, has assured that the Force will not relent in its commitment a hell-betting and reclaiming the public space from criminals that are hell bent on threatening the internal security order of the country and bringing such suspects to justice.