By; BALA B. BITRUS, Minna
The Police under the Niger State Police Command has smartened up from it’s lacklustre as it has of late harvested band of criminals including kidnappers, armed robbers, cattle thieves and other dangerous elements whose activities had caused anguish to citizens across the state.
In recent weeks, the Police had bursted open camps of kidnappers, cattle rustlers, armed robbers and bandits in Suleja, Paiko, Bosso, Sarkin Pawa, Rafi area and other places in parts of the state.
On Wednesday, the Police Command showcased it’s latest haul of criminal elements to the public at the State Police Command.
The nine suspects who were on the parade, the Police said are dangerous criminal elements arrested during sting operations by operatives of the Command in parts of Paiko, Tungan Malam, Mashegu, Bosso, Minna and environs.
The Command’s Police Public Relations Officer, Abubakar Dan Inna Mohammed, an Assistant Supritendent of Police, (ASP), told newsmen during the public parade of the criminals that the suspects, all of Fulani extractions were nabbed by men of the Police Command during operations.
Three of the criminals, Ahmadu Abubakar, Ali Alhaji Shehu and Abubakar Mohammed are kidnappers and were arrested after they, along with others now on the run, had taken captive a local businessman, Sanusi Garba of Nasarawa village at Manigi market area in Mashegu Local Government Area of the state on a market day.
The suspects cornered the victim in his unregistered Toyota Corolla car and took him to a bush where they collected N7.6million from him and still held him captive in their camp until another ramson of N10 million was paid to them by the victim’s relations after which they released him.
In another operation, men of the state Police command had during an operation at Mashegu and Paikoro council areas of the state, nabbed two kidnap suspects, Tabana Adamu of Angwan Malam, Fulani camp and Mannu Alhaji Farida who were members of a six man kidnap gang who were responsible for the kidnap of one Alhaji Duna of Borin Aiki village of Mashegu Local Government Area of the state.
The six man gang of kidnappers according to information by the Police had collected N4 million from their victim before he was released to his family days after he was taken captive.
Similarly, another band of four notorious cattle thieves who have been on the radar of security agencies in the state, Abdullahi Mohammed, Mohammed Umar, Shandari Lawal and Sanda Umar were arrested for seriel cattle rustling cases in Mashegu and Paikoro council areas of the state as the Police closed in on them after a prolong search for the criminal gang.
The PPRO said the Police was working day and nights to burst more criminal nests in parts of the state even as he assured that for men of the criminal world, their days were numbered.
Meanwhile, reports from Sarkin Pawa town and villages in the notorious Kabulla forest and Zazzaga areas which have been dens of kidnappers and armed robbers have confirmed that following the deployment of soldiers to the area, activities of men of the underworld including kidnappers, armed robbers, cattle rustlers and other bandits have ceased no thanks to the presence of the no nonsense armed soldiers stationed in the bushes within the territory of the council area.
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