The Nigeria Police Intelligence Response Team, working with the Taraba State Police Command, have arrested a total of 11 notorious kidnapping suspects in Taraba State for their complicity and various criminal roles in the recent trend of kidnapping incidents in Taraba State.
The gang was involved in the kidnapping of a serving personnel of the Nigeria Customs Service, kidnapping of a relative of the Emir of Jalingo and the killing of a Police Sergeant in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital.
A press statement by the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), CP Frank Mba, Sunday in Abuja, said: “The Police team equally recovered seven AK47 rifles, two Beretta pistols, 121 rounds of live ammunition of different calibre, four magazines, masks, illicit drugs and other incriminating items during raids of various hideouts of the suspects in the state.
“The arrest of the suspects follows the deployment of operatives of the Intelligence Response Team by the Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Baba, to Taraba State to complement the efforts of the Taraba State Police Command in promptly containing the disturbing trend of kidnapping, armed robbery, and other violent crimes in the State.”
The Spokesperson further stated that, “The suspects: Luka Adam, Shuaibu Nuhu, Moses Amos, Peters Mashi, Ahmadu Mallam, Adamu Mohammed, Dahiru Mallam Dalha, Gambo Isah, Sanusi Ahmadu, Mallam Mohammed Mauludu, and Ibrahim Idi, all indigenes of Taraba state, were arrested by the Police team from their various criminal hideouts.
“Police investigations revealed that the suspects, who have also been on the wanted list of the Taraba Police Command, are members of a notorious kidnap syndicate and have been evidentially linked to the recent upsurge in incidents of kidnapping in the State, including the deliberate and calculated attacks on security personnel.
“Investigations also revealed how two of the suspects, Gambo Isah and Sanusi Ahmadu masterminded the killing of the Police Sergeant and left a Police Inspector with gunshot injuries in their recent operation to enable them escape arrest having abducted some victims in Jalingo recently.
“Investigations further revealed that the modi operandi of the suspects include trailing individuals, business owners, government functionaries, motorists with flashy and exotic cars, to their houses and thereafter planning and executing the kidnap of such persons. They also collect huge sums of money as ransom from relatives and friends of their victims before their release.”