From Molly Kilete and Esther Ene, Abuja
The Nigeria Police yesterday paraded 26 suspected kidnappers said to be terrorising motorists on the highways of Niger, Kogi and Kaduna states. The suspects, who were arrested at different locations, were paraded at the Ibrahim Coomasie Police Station in Gawun Babangida, Gurara Local Government Area of Niger State.
Among the suspects were commercial drivers who picked up passengers perceived to be rich at motor parks that they ended up robbing and raping. Items recovered from the suspects included four AK-47 rifles, four double-barrel guns, three locally-made pistols, a large catche of ammunition, machetes, charms, mobile telephone handsets and clothing, among others.
Parading the suspects before newsmen, the force public relations officer, Moshood Jimoh, said the suspects were arrested by men of Operation Absolute Sanity, set up by the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to wipe out kidnappers and other criminal groups terrorising the Abuja-Kaduna highway.
Jimoh, while noting that cases of kidnapping have reduced on the Abuja-Kaduna highway, said the kidnappers have relocated to the Niger-Kogi-Benue axis, where they now terrorise innocent victims with their activities.
He said that aside from kidnapping for ransom, the group also raped their female victims and killed others. Some of them dressed in Army uniforms and mounted roadblocks to deceive motorists.
The plce spokesman, who reiterated the authorities’ determination to wipe out kidnappers from the nation’s highways, said all the suspects have made confessional statements on their roles in various crimes, while efforts were on to arrest other members of the gang after which they would be charged to court.
In an interview with journalists, a leader of the gang, 20-year-old Abubakar Mohammed from Bauchi State, who said he has been in crime for over two years, disclosed that they usually worked with relatives of their victims before embarking on any operation.
He said they collected ransom ranging from N2 million from relatives of abducted victims and he used his share of the money to invest in trading.
Another suspect, Isah Umar, a commercial driver who operated from the Lapai Motor Park, said he, alongside one Ubale Sani another member of the gang, were responsible for identifying rich passengers who came to the park and alerted their members with the necessary details of the vehicle to facilitate the abduction of the passengers along the way.