Police arrest 10 suspected kidnappers, 3 gun runners
Upon interrogation, the suspects confessed that they were sent by one Idris from Katsina State to purchase ammunition at Ibi, Taraba State before they were arrested at Tunga village.
The Police Command in Nasarawa State said on Wednesday that it has arrested 10 suspected kidnappers and three gun runners in the state.
DSP Ramhan Nansel, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, said this while parading the suspects on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, Maiyaki Baba, at the Command’s headquarters in Lafia.
He said that the feat was recorded during various operations across the state between April 30 and May 23.
Nansel said that 13 suspected cultists were also arrested within the period, and three firearms and 497 rounds of live ammunition were recovered from the suspects.
According to the PPRO, three of the suspected kidnappers from Doka in Kaduna State, Tunga, and Awe in Nasarawa State were arrested in Tunga village on April 30 with 155 rounds of live ammunition.
“Upon interrogation, the suspects confessed that they were sent by one Idris from Katsina State to purchase ammunition at Ibi, Taraba State, before they were arrested at Tunga village.
“A follow-up investigation by men of the Command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit led to the arrest of Idris, father of one of the suspects from Kankara in Katsina State, where one AK-47 rifle, one magazine, and 323 rounds of live ammunition were recovered,’’ he said.
Nansel added that three members of a gun-running syndicate were arrested on May 15 at about 2:00 p.m. in Assakio, near Lafia, for trying to buy three AK47 rifles for the sum of N1.1 million.
He said that two of the suspects, from Quan’pan Local Government Area in Plateau and Assakio in Lafia, were arrested in Assakio while trying to seal the deal.
The PPRO said that upon interrogation, the suspect confessed to having been contracted by another suspect in Assakio to source the weapon.
He said all the suspects would be charged in court for prosecution upon the conclusion of the investigation.
The PPRO gave assurances that the Police Command would not relent in its onslaught against criminals in the state and called for the support of citizens.