A 40-year-old notorious kidnap kingpin, Bashiru Abdullahi, has been arrested by the police arrested at Kontagora area of Niger State.
The state police spokesperson, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, who disclosed this in a statement on Friday, July 22, said the suspect was arrested following credible information that he was planning to recruit armed men to kidnap some persons including a former LG chairman.
Abiodun said the suspect allegedly killed his younger brother, Mamuda Abdullahi, in March, 2022 and told family members that the deceased was attacked by bandits.
“In view of the ongoing onslaught against insurgency, banditry and kidnapping in the state and in a proactive effort of the Command, based on credible intelligence from a reliable source, on 14/07/2022 at about 1630hrs, Police tactical team attached to Minna Area Command arrested one suspect, Alh. Bashiru Abdullahi aged 40yrs ‘m’ of Bangi, Mariga LGA,” the statement read.
“The suspect was arrested at Kontagora on the above mentioned date when he was planning and making effort to recruit armed men needed to perpetrate his usual kidnapping escapades.
“During interrogation, Alh. Bashiru confessed that he planned to kidnap a former Local Government Council Chairman of Mariga and the father of a former Commissioner in the State.
“He claimed that the former Chairman owed him a sum amount of five million, eight hundred thousand naira (N5,800,000) and that if the Chairman is kidnapped, he intends to realise ten million naira ransom from him.
“He further confessed that part of his plan was to equally kidnap the father of the former Commissioner whom he owes about one million, three hundred thousand naira (N1,300,000) from a business transaction between them while he was expecting to get fifteen million naira ransom from the plan.
“Further investigation revealed that sometime in the month of March, 2022, the said Alh. Bashiru was suspected to have murdered his younger brother one Alh. Mamuda Abdullahi aged 35yrs ‘m’ of Bangi and when he was interrogated, he confessed to the act that he contributed money with his brother to the tune of seventy-nine million naira for a business purpose, but he suspected that his brother swindled him and he hit him with a stick on the head which resulted to his death. However, he told the family members that his brother was attacked and killed by bandits at Beri,”
“Meanwhile, the case is under investigation with a view to unravel other criminal acts of the suspect as well as unveiling and arresting other suspected members of his gang,” the spokesperson added.
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