Emerging report indicates that the Nigeria Police Force, in Zamfara State, has arrested 5 notorious suspects involved in banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling, and illegal possession of firearms, 36 .
The suspects were paraded by the Police Public Relations Officer, in Zamfara, Shehu Mohammed, on Friday, at the Police Headquarters in Gusau, the State capital.
He explained that the arrest of the suspects was a result of the collaboration between the Police and the State Leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN.
Mohammed stated that the Command will continue to work with any group or persons willing to work for the peace of Zamfara State, and the North-West region in general.
He assured the people of the State that the Command is working hard to ensure the State is free from all criminal activities under Governor Bello Matawalle’s watch.
Those arrested were said to have been terrorising various communities in Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina States, in the North-West, and Niger State in the North Central part of the country.
The items recovered from the suspects include 4 AK49 riffles, 9 magazines, 960 live ammunition, and assorted charms.
The suspects were arrested through the efforts of the Federal Intelligence Investigation Bureau and Special Tactical Squad deployed by the Acting Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Usman Baba, to rid Zamfara State and the North-West region of crime.
They were alleged to have kidnapped the younger brother of one Dr. Dauda Lawal, and confessed that they collected N20 million ransom, as well as received N10 million ransom for the abduction of the daughter of one Engineer Yahaya Maradun.
Among them was a Nigerien citizen, Shehu Ali Kachalla, a notorious Gunrunner who confessed that he had been in the business for more than 3 years.
The foreigner revealed that he had sold no fewer than 4,500 rifles to different criminal gangs across the North-West region.
Abubakar Ali, another notorious kidnap suspect from Niger State, said that he was operating within Kagarko and Chikun Local Government Areas of Kaduna State.
He also confessed that he had been in the criminal business for 3 years, and has killed 5 of his victims who could not afford to pay their ransoms to regain freedom from captivity.
According to the suspect, their Leader pays them between N600,000 and N700,000 in any abduction that attracts N20 million ransom and above.
The Commissioner for Security and Home Affairs in Zamfara, Abubakar Dauran, also witnessed the parade of the suspects at the Police Headquarters in the State.
He promised that the State Government would not relent in its continuous efforts to bring a lasting end to criminality in Zamfara State.
Dauran also appealed to the residents to join hands with government and Security Agencies, in bringing down the activities of criminal elements making life unbearable for innocent citizens.
More news later…