Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
The Nigeria Police yesterday paraded 48 crime suspects involved in various criminal activities, including kidnapping, armed robbery, internet scam, fraud and unlawful possession of firearms.
The police also recovered 47 weapon, including 14 AK- 47 rifles, two submachine guns, 18 ipads, laptops and PoS machine.
Parading the suspects in Abuja, Force PRO and Commisioner of Police, Frank Mba, said the different criminal gangs of robbers and drug peddlers operated in Abuja, Benue, Kogi and Taraba states.
He said as part of Operation Puff Adder II, operatives of the FIB Intelligence Response Team and Special Tactical Squad of the force attached to the Operation Puff Adder II arrested 48 criminal suspects, including 47 male and one female, for their involvement and indictment in cases of armed robbery, kidnapping, unlawful possession of firearms, cybercrime/financial fraud and other heinous crimes in some parts of the country.
“Forty one prohibited firearms including 14 AK-47 rifles, 10 AK-47 magazines, 58 live cartridges, four AK-47 live ammunition, four PoS machines, two laptop computers, 18 mobile phones, Internet modem and nine ATM cards were recovered from the suspects in the operations”, he said.
Mba said police detectives arrested nine criminal suspects responsible for the kidnap of Hon. Mohammed Bashir Bape, Member, Taraba State House of Assembly in December, 2020.
The suspects were apprehended at their various hideouts in Taraba and Plateau states, following an intense search by the police team for the perpetrators of the crime and follow-up on recent spike in Kidnapping and armed robbery in Taraba and the North-Central states of the country.
They suspects include Yusuf Abubakar, 31, native of Jalingo LGA of Taraba State; Muntari Umar, 27, native of Mayo Belwa LGA Adamawa State; Ahmadu Dahiru, 28, native of Lau LGA, Taraba State; Ali Alhaji Wurungo, 25, native of Lau LGA Taraba State; Buhari Nuhu, 25, native of Jalingo LGA; Mohammed Garba, 30, native of Mararaban Gasol, Taraba State; Yusuf Jibrillah 23, native of Mararaban Gasol Taraba State; Adamu Ahmadu aka Bulala 32yrs, native of Taraba State; and one Idi Suleiman.
Mba said investigations by the police team revealed that the suspects were members of a notorious armed robbery/kidnapping syndicate that specialises in terrorising innocent citizens in the North-Central/North-east states particularly in Plateau and Taraba states.
Police investigations further uncovered the roles played by each member of the gang during the kidnap of the lawmaker.
The police operatives also arrested a 12-man cybercrime syndicate for internet fraud and other cyber-related offences.
The suspects, with their ages within the range of 22 and 30, were arrested at a residence in Kubwa area of the Federal capital Territory (FCT), Abuja following intelligence received by the Police.
Similarly, the Police team nabbed a two-man gang of a 61-year-old physically challenged man, Musa Usman from Kebbi State, who resides in Anambra State and one Ahmed Shuaibu, 27, native of Nasarawa State for complicity in the distribution and sale of illicit/dangerous drugs to bandits in their camps at Babuga, Nasarawa State.
The physically-challenged man was taking advantage of his physical state to evade police attention until his eventual arrest.
He said 30 wraps of substance suspected to be cocaine, were recovered from the suspects.
“The Inspector-General of Police, while noting that the Operation Puff Adder II is already yielding positive results barely ten days after it was flagged-off, has assured that the force will not relent in its commitment at re-dominating and reclaiming the public space from criminals that are hell bent on threatening the internal security order of the country and bringing such suspects to justice”, he said.
