By; BALA B. BITRUS, Minna
The Niger State Police Command has raised an 800 man strong force to combat a resurgence of kidnapping, armed robberies and other dangerous forms of organized crimes in parts of the state.
Lately, some bands of criminals had infiltrated into four council areas of the state wrecking havoc unchallenged as helpless victims and the communities cry out for reprieve.
Last Sunday, a local businessman on transit at Lambata, a sprawling interesect town in Gurara local government area was kidnapped.
Few days earlier, a band of road marauders had laid seize along Paiko – Tungan Malam – Lapai road axis and robbed road users in a brazen, bravado daylight operation.
In the same week, some five man gang of armed robbers had accosted motorists plying the Minna – Suleja road and dispossessed motorists of their belongings.
Worried by these rise in criminalities and in a swift response to the developments in Gurara, Tafa, Lapai and Suleja Local Government Areas, the Niger state Police Command Wednesday said it has deployed 800 Special Forces to arrest the new wave of crimes in the affected areas.
The Police’s reaction is coming on the heels of the latest case of the kidnap of a middle aged businessman, Malam Nuhu Isa on Sunday evening by some unknown armed men at Lambata village of Gurara Local Government Area.
The gunmen according to sources closed to the scene of the incident were about eight in number who waylaid and snatched the businessman at gun point forcing him into a vehicle.
Soon after they zoomed off out of the area, the kidnappers were said to have used the cell phone of their victim to contact his family and negotiated for ransom which was agreed at one million naira.
Nuhu Isa who was on his way back from a business trip, was forced to speak to his family and asked them to look for money and pay for his release.
A statement signed by the state Police Public Relation Officer, (PPRO), DSP Bala Elkanah, confirmed the incidence.
The statement said the special forces raised were drawn from the Police Intelligence Unit, Police Mobile Force, Special Anti-robbery and Anti-kidnapping Squads.
The statement disclosed that the operational base of the crack team have been temporarily relocated at Lambata, in Gurara Local Government Council.
The Police appealed to members of the public to remain calm even as it urged citizens to avail the Police with any useful information on any suspicious persons in any part of the state.
The statement assured that the Police was on top of the situation just as it said that the crack team of the Police was working day and nights to burst the criminal networks.
It revealed that the state Police Command has introduced an “Information Reward System” where persons with useful information on activities of criminals would be rewarded bountifully with cash while their identities remains closed.
“Any person or persons who provides useful information that could lead to the arrest of criminals and recovery of firearms in the state would be rewarded” according to the statement.
Meanwhile, the Police said that during one of it’s undercover operations, it arrested one Baba Mohammed of Brighter School area, Sauka-Kahuta for criminal conspiracy and cheating and impersonation.
Statement signed by the PPRO, Bala Elkanah (DSP) said Baba Mohammed posed as younger brother to the Inspector General of Police, (IGP) Ibrahim K. Idris to duped one Abubakar Dogonyaro of D135 Tunga low-cost Minna of N380,000.
“The suspect deceived his victim to believe that the IGP is his elder brother and wants to give out contract worth N250 million and therefore demanded that his unsuspecting victim make some payments to enable him facilitate the contracts’ approval”.
The Police warned members of the public to be watchful against fraudsters who come with mouth watering offer for bogus contracts.
