Thirty individuals have been apprehended by Nigeria Police Force officers for their involvement in banditry, kidnappings, and other violent crimes around the country, particularly in the North Central area.
CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, a police spokesman, said in a statement on Thursday that the Force Intelligence Bureau Special Tactical Squad (FIB-STS) recently arrested 30 suspects for their roles in kidnapping, armed robbery, arms smuggling, unlawful possession of prohibited firearms, car theft, rape, and receiving stolen goods, among other crimes.
He went on to say that the FIB-STS also recovered eight (8) foreign and seven (7) locally made AK47 rifles, eight (8) revolver rifles, two thousand two hundred (2,200) rounds of live ammunition of various calibres, twelve (14) AK47 magazines, three (3) stolen cars, 10 fake number plates, and a a cash sum of one million, eight hundred and eighty thousand (1,880,000) naira from the suspects during follow-up investigations.
Notable amongst the cases is the arrest of one Ahmed Yunusa, aka “Yellow Ashana”, a 36-year-old leader of a vicious bandit group that has been terrorising communities and road users along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway.
The suspect, who has been on the run following a police operation that led to the death of a member of his syndicate, one Yellow Magaji aka Arushe, was arrested during a sting operation by police operatives of the FIB-STS.
Yunusa confessed that he led the syndicate which has carried out several kidnapping operations on the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway, and launched three different attacks on Kadara Community in Kaduna State, wherein scores of persons were killed.
He equally confessed to the kidnap and murder of one Hafsat Isah, who was lured into the bandit camp by her friend, one Ladi Sale, who was equally arrested by the police.
Also arrested was one Mrs Nvou Michael, a 37-year-old female from Vom LGA, Plateau State, who was intercepted by operatives along Samminaka/Jos expressway, Kaduna State, in possession of 15 locally made rifles and 400 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm AK47 ammunition in a Toyota Hummer bus travelling from Jos, Plateau State to Kaduna State. Investigations revealed the suspect was an arms smuggler for some bandit groups in Kaduna State.
Similarly, police operatives arrested one Nuhu Yakubu, a 33-year-old male from Donga, Taraba State, while he was conveying 1,500 AK47 ammunition from Wukari to bandits in the Donga Forest.
The operatives of the FIB-STS also apprehended the duo of Idris Abdulwahab, 26-year-old, and Adams Ibrahim, 37-year-old, both from Okene, Kogi State, who have been linked to major bank robbery operations at Ondo State, and in Egbe, Yagba West Local Government Area of Kogi State, in 2021, where they killed a security guard.
The suspects who specialize in the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to forcefully gain access into banks for their robbery operations, were intercepted by eagle-eyed police operatives at a checkpoint in Isonu, Kogi State, while heading to Okene from their forest hideout, with a cash sum of one million, eight hundred and eighty thousand Naira (N1,880,000).
While reacting to these feats, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, charged police operatives across the country to sustain the tempo in the fight to curb crimes in the country.
The IGP, who lauded the results of efforts emplaced to roll back the negative trend of crimes, commended the FIB-STS.
The police chief while assuring the nation that the Force would continue to close up on all criminal elements that pose a threat to national security, called on the public to readily assist the police with information to effectively combat the purveyors of crimes within the society.
All the suspects are expected to be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of investigations.