In a significant breakthrough, authorities in Taraba State have apprehended three individuals suspected of kidnapping while posing as miners.


General Jeremiah Aliyu Faransa (retd), the chairman of the Taraba State Special Task Force Committee on Environmental Protection, Public Safety, and Prohibition of Deforestation, announced the arrests. The suspects were apprehended at the Garin Mallam Yusuf mining camp in Jamtari ward of Gashaka Local Government Council.


The arrested individuals are identified as Alhassan Abdullahi, aged 52, Rabiu Alhassan, aged 25, and Hassan Magaji, aged 35. Abdullahi is from Kano State, while Alhassan and Magaji hail from Kaduna and Yobe states, respectively.


Faransa noted that other suspects managed to evade arrest by fleeing into the forest, sustaining gunshot wounds in the process. He expressed astonishment at the audacity of kidnappers masquerading as miners and emphasized that the federal government would soon issue comprehensive guidelines to mining companies nationwide.


He reiterated the state government's unwavering commitment to thwarting any attempts to undermine Governor Agbu Kefas' vision for the state's progress.


Currently, the three apprehended suspects remain in the custody of the task force and are slated to face prosecution before a special mobile court soon.