IG Charges Personnel to Sustain Fight against Violent Crimes

 Police arrest 30 suspects for banditry, kidnapping, others

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

The Inspector General of Police( IG), Usman Alkali Baba, yesterday charged police operatives across the country to sustain the tempo in the fight to curb violent crimes in the country.

The IG, who spoke in Abuja, lauded the results of efforts emplaced to roll back the negative trend of crimes, commended the Force Intelligence Bureau Special Tactical Squad (FIB-STS) for the recent arrest of 30 suspects for complicity in the crimes of kidnapping, armed robbery, arms smuggling, unlawful possession of prohibited firearms, car theft, rape, receiving stolen goods, amongt others.

The force intelligence bureau recovered a total of eight  foreign and seven  locally made AK47 rifles, eight  revolver rifles, 2,200 rounds of live ammunition of different calibres, 14  AK47 magazines, three  stolen cars, 10 fake number plates and a cash sum of  N1,880,000)  from the suspects during follow-up investigations.

Notable amongst the cases is the arrest of one Ahmed Yunusa, aka “Yellow Ashana”, a 36-year-old leader of a vicious bandit group that  terrorised  communities and road users along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway.

The suspect, who was on the run following a police operation that led to the death of a member of his syndicate, one Yellow Magaji aka Arushe, was arrested during a sting operation by police operatives of the FIB-STS.

The suspect confessed that he led the syndicate that carried out several kidnapping operations on the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway and launched three different attacks on Kadara Community in Kaduna State, where scores were killed.

He also confessed to the kidnap and murder of one Hafsat Isah, who was lured into the bandit camp by her friend, one Ladi Sale, who was equally arrested by the police.

Also arrested was one Mrs. Nvou Michael, a 37-year-old female from Vom LGA, Plateau State, who was intercepted by operatives along Samminaka/Jos expressway, Kaduna State, in possession of 15 locally made rifles and 400 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm AK47 ammunition in a Toyota Hummer bus travelling from Jos, Plateau State to Kaduna State.

Investigations revealed  that the suspect was an arms smuggler for some bandit groups in Kaduna State. Similarly, police operatives arrested one Nuhu Yakubu, a 33-year-old male from Donga, Taraba State, while he was conveying 1,500 AK47 ammunition from Wukari to bandits in the Donga Forest.

The operatives of the FIB-STS also apprehended the duo of Idris Abdulwahab, 26-year-old, and Adams Ibrahim, 37-year-old, both from Okene, Kogi State, who have been linked to major bank robbery operations in  Ondo State and in Egbe, Yagba West Local Government Area of Kogi State, in 2021, where they killed a security guard.

The suspects, who specialised  in the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to forcefully gain access into banks for their robbery operations were intercepted by eagle-eyed police operatives at a check point in Isonu, Kogi State, while heading to Okene from their forest hideout, with the sum of N1,880,000.

The IG, who spoke through the Acting Force Public Relations Officer and Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP),  Olumuyiwa Adejobi, during a parade of 30 crime suspects, assured the nation that the force would continue to close-up on criminal elements, who posed a threat to national security.

He  called on well-meaning members of the public to readily assist the police with information to effectively combat the purveyors of violent crimes in the society. 

He said all the suspects would be arraigned in court upon conclusion of investigations.