Alex Enumah in Abuja
The Nigerian Police Force yesterday paraded 31 armed robbery and kidnapping suspects said to have been terrorising travellers along the Abuja-Kaduna highway.
Also paraded was a gang of armed banditry in Zamfara State, led by their commander, one Mohammed Abubakar.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, while parading the suspects before journalists in Tafa Kagarko LGA of Kaduna State, said the arrest of the suspects was part of renewed efforts by the force to bring crime to its nearest minimum and also ensure the safety of Nigerians in all parts of the country.
He recalled that only few weeks ago, part of the Abuja-Kaduna highway was taken over by armed bandits, who kidnapped for ransom, robbed innocent Nigerians on the high way and in villages and towns along the Abuja-Kaduna highway.
He said the situation led the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to deploy the Special Tactical Squad (STS) with a mandate to restore safety along the area.
Following the success of the STS, whose mandate spread down to Zamfara, Sokoto and some states in the North Central zone, the force spokesman disclosed that operations of the STS would soon be replicated in all trouble spots to ensure that the country is safe again for all.
“The STS mandate is to completely flush out crimes and within just a short while they have arrested over 1,000 suspects, recovered 22 AK 47 rifles, one dane gun, a Toyota Corolla and Rav4 cars among others from the suspects”, he said.
The suspects, who could not speak in the English language, however confessed to the crimes.
Among them are, Sufiyan Abdullahi and Umaru Suleiman, who admitted to have collected the sum of N12 million from one of their kidnapped victims before he was released. They were arrested on August 16, 2018.
Also paraded were Yinusa Musa aka Mukuro, Abubakar Isah and Mohammed Abubakar, who claimed to have terrorized and killed several persons in Zamfara State.
Others are Ibrahim Usman Ahmed Isah, Yusuf Mohammed, Auta Bello, Abubakar Abdullahi, Yusuf Iliasu, Dauda Saleh, Alhaji Suleiman and Anwal Mustapha.
Moshood, however said that the suspects would all be arraigned in court immediately the conclusion of their investigations.
