Police: We rescued 154 kidnap victims, arrested 139 suspects in two weeks in Abuja

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) says it rescued 154 kidnap victims and arrested 139 suspects in two weeks in Abuja, the federal capital territory (FCT).

Muyiwa Adejobi, police spokesperson, announced the development in a statement on Friday.

He also said 17 arms and 604 ammunitions were recovered from the arrested suspects.

“The recent launch of the Special Intervention Squad (SIS) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) by the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, PhD, NPM, has further bolstered the security architecture of the FCT leading to the arrest of 139 suspects, recovery of 3 GPR Chargers, 2 AK-47 rifles, 1 Type-06, 4 locally fabricated guns, 1 Berretta pistol, 2 Makarov pistols, 4 locally fabricated pump action guns, 504 pieces of AK-47 ammunition, 100 pieces of AA ammunition, as well as the rescue of 154 kidnapped victims unhurt,” the statement reads.

“Prominent among the recent successes recorded is the interception of a group of persons along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway who were major suppliers of arms and ammunition to bandits operating in Niger, Zamfara, and Kaduna States.

“In a more recent event, in the early hours of Friday 26th January, 2024, men of the IGP-SIS engaged some armed bandits within the FCT-Kaduna axis in a fierce gun battle and neutralised 3 of them including their gang leader, one Mai-Gemu (aka Gadoro). It is crystal clear that with this operation, the gang and its camp have been destroyed.

“The IGP-SIS operatives on the 21st of January 2024 arrested 2 major gun-running kingpins who had been supplying locally fabricated arms and various types of ammunition to several assailants operating in the North-Central region of the country.

“The squad also arrested 2 kidnappers in the Jikwoyi area of the FCT and recovered several arms and ammunition from them after overwhelming the gang in a gun battle which also led to the rescue of their kidnapped victim.”

According to Adejobi, Kayode Egbetokun, the inspector-general of police (IGP), has said the police special intervention squad (SIS) will be launched in other states across the country for effective security management.