Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
Acting on credible information, operatives of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Nigeria Police at the weekend arrested a deadly kidnap for ransom syndicate, who kidnapped the wife and two children of a serving lawmaker, Hon. Ibrahim Aminu, in Katsina State.
A statement issued by IRT said sequel to the intelligence reports on the activities of the deadly criminal gangs by IRT operatives attached to the Operation Restore Hope of the Force in Yankwani village and Kurani town, the team swung into action and arrested the suspects in their various hideouts.
The operatives arrested the key suspects Muttaka Ibrahim, Suleiman Rabiu, and Surajo all male and natives of Bakori LGA for allegedly supplying the information that led to the assault on the lawmaker where his family member’s were taken into captivity.
During the investigation, Muttaka Ibrahim confessed to the crime saying that he and other gang members were informants to Sanni Tukur aka Abacha terrorising the people of the villages and towns in Katsina and Zamfara States.
The suspects were said to have volunteered information to the bandit leader leading to the kidnapping of Hon. Ibrahim Aminu’s wife and six other natives.
Other victims of the criminal gang include: Buhari Usman, also known as Fedeco, Nazaradeen Ibrahim, Amandallah Ahmad, Ibrahim Suleiman, Sumayya Nura and Yahaya Bura who are currently in the captivity of the gang.
The statement revealed that the kidnappers after abduction of the wife of the lawmaker, Rabi Yusuf and two of his male children all of Bakori LGA, demanded and received N11million and N10 million for his children at different times.
Upon interrogation, the bandit informant, Muttaka Ibrahim, admitted having received a payment of N130,000 from the gang leader, adding that one Yusuf Bala of Zaria was his accomplice.
He also admitted that the bandit leader collected a total of N6,500, 000 from the victims they kidnaped at Yankwani town.
Narrating his ordeal, the lawmaker told police investigators that he paid a total sum of N37, 500,000 to the gang leader to secure his family members’ release from captivity.
The statement affirmed that all the suspects were still undergoing interrogation and further investigation by the police and would be charged to court if found culpable in the crime according to the leader of the team.
The Inspector-General of Police (IG), Usman Alkali Baba, directed that all the weapons, arms and ammunition in the hands of criminal elements should be retrieved.
Force Spokesman and Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), Muyiwa Adejobi, assured the people that all the suspects would be prosecuted in accordance with the provisions of the law.
