In response to the rising cases of kidnapping in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the Nigeria Police, on Saturday, paraded 29 suspected kidnappers and other criminals arrested in Bwari Area Council, the latest hotbed of kidnapping in the nation’s capital.
The arrest followed the recent launch of the Special Intervention Squad (SIS) by the Inspector-General of Police (IG), Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, as part of the strategy to fortify the security landscape of Abuja.
Parading the suspects in Abuja, Force Public Relations Officer and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the arrest was the result of a joint operation of the SIS and the Department of Force Intelligence – Intelligence Response Team (DFI-IRT), the FCT Command Anti-Violent Crimes Section, Anti-kidnapping Section and other state commands.
According to him, the police operatives apprehended 29 notorious criminals and recovered a significant arsenal of arms and ammunition including a General-Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG).
The suspects paraded include three Bwari-based kidnappers, notably, Idris Ishaku, 27; Bala Umar, 27 and Dahiru Salisu, 27, who were masterminds of a series of armed robbery cases and kidnappings in the Bwari Local Government Area and other parts of the FCT.
Adejobi further stated that the combined team of operatives arrested 13 suspects for various other crimes.
He said the foiling of another kidnap plot through technical intelligence resulted in the arrest of the above-named Bwari-based kidnappers and weapons recovered from them.
“In a proactive move, following a report on the abduction of a victim from his house along with his Hilux Van with Reg. No. RBC 90 DL Gray colour by four armed men disguised in a white Mercedes Benz 230 car, police operatives in an intelligence-propelled investigation discovered that the victim was being taken to Kano State, but was dispossessed of his ATM cards at Kaduna, while the N500,000 was transferred from his account.
“The suspects, however, ran out of luck as they were intercepted by police operatives at a filling station in Kaduna where three of them escaped, while one by the name Chinaza Okoye was arrested.
The victim was rescued unhurt, and the said Hilux Van recovered,” he said.
It was discovered that Chinaza Okoye and his accomplices had earlier been arrested sometime in November 2023 and charged for similar offences, at the High Court, Kwali, Abuja, but went back to committing even worse crimes while on court bail.
Also, operatives of the DFI-IRT office intercepted one Everest Magaji, a gunrunner, during negotiation with some notorious bandits, who are presently at large for the purchase and supply of illicit firearms and ammunition.
Eleven pistols and two pump action guns were recovered from the suspect.
“The achievements recorded through these relentless operations demonstrate the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force, under the leadership of the Inspector-General of Police to ensure our country becomes a haven for us to inhabit.
“The IG urges all citizens to be very observant of their environment and the people in it and report any suspicious activity immediately to the police,” he said.
Kingsley Nwezeh
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Parade?! I hope the Police realise that in Nigeria these are suspects, who are deemed innocent until proven guilty in a Court of competent jurisdiction. It would appear that our Police are at their usual game again, when under pressure: they make allegations against paraded suspects, without allowing us to hear the suspect’s side, thus giving the public the impression of their notional guilt; then, they are never actually prosecuted in Court and we never hear anything about the case whilst the paraded suspects continue to languish in prison– and this possibly accounts for why the huge population (approximately 70 percent) of our prison inmates are awaiting trial inmates.
The correct place to parade any suspects are the Courts; during which the police will proceed to adduce evidence to prove the case against them, and get the suspects convicted. Hence, this lazy criminal policing, by a tactic that is strongly suggestive of creeping islamisation of our criminal justice prosecution system, should stop forthwith. As the agents of government with the farthest reach and who have access to the largest database, in the land; it should not be beyond the capability of the Police to put forward sufficient evidence to convict these suspects.
However, if the Police, or government, are so insistent on parading suspects; why not parade the over 200 suspects whose names were handed over to them by the U.A.E and were alleged to be sponsors of terrorism?! Or are one group of suspects more equal than others?!