Police arrest four members of ‘bandit syndicate behind kidnappings’ in Abuja

The federal capital territory (FCT) police command says security operatives have arrested four suspected bandits terrorising the nation’s capital.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Josephine Adeh, FCT police spokesperson, said the suspects were apprehended on June 7 during a joint operation by the police, hunters, guards brigade, and the Department of State Services (DSS).

Adeh said the security forces acted on credible intelligence and stormed some identified kidnappers’ camps at Gidan Dogo and Kweti Forest, Kaduna state, bordering FCT, trailed and arrested the four suspects.

Adeh, a superintendent of police, said the suspects are Yahaya Abubakar, 25; Mohammed Mohamed, 32, an ex-convict; Umar Aliyu, 20; and Nura Abdullahi 32, also an ex-convict.

“The suspects freely confessed to being members of a notorious bandit syndicate with the name ‘Mai One Million’, responsible for a series of kidnappings and other heinous crimes in FCT and its environs,” Adeh said.

“The coordinated operation, which occasioned a shootout between the bandits and the security operatives, forced them to scamper to safety, and victims were rescued.

“The illegally erected structures by the kidnappers in all the patrolled camps were all decimated.”

The police said victims rescued from the suspects have been reunited with their families and loved ones.

Benneth Igweh, FCT police commissioner, asked residents to be vigilant and report suspicious activities to law enforcement agencies.