Police nab kidnappers, robbers as suspect declares ‘I killed several victims who could not pay ransom’

The Police on Monday  said they had arrested 38 suspected kidnappers, armed robbers and gun runners in different parts of the North Central, North East and North West zones of the country.
Force spokesman and Deputy Commissioner of Police, Frank Mba, disclosed this while addressing newsmen in Abuja.
He said that the suspects were arrested by police operatives attached to the Special Tactical Squad (STS) and Intelligence Response Team (IRT).
According to Mba, 20 AK47 rifles, 11 dane guns, four pump action rifles, 10 automatic pistols, 6, 000 live ammunition and two vehicles were recovered.
He said that the arrest was in continuation of the Operation Puff Adder recently launched to tackle the security challenges on the Abuja-Kaduna highway and the country in general.
Mba said that members of a syndicate, which specialised in smuggling weapons into the country, were among suspects arrested.
The spokesman said that the syndicate smuggled the weapons from North Africa, Burkinafaso  and Benin Republic.
“They conceal the weapons inside hide and skin, second hand clothings and yam flour,“he said.
He said that the criminals had also devised a means of concealing weapons   inside toys, urging members of the public to bear with the police when carrying thorough checks on vehicles.
“When you see policemen checking items like that, please don’t blame them”, he said.

Speaking to newsmen, one of the suspects, said that he had killed several kidnap victims who could not pay ransom.
He said that his job was specifically to prevent the victims from escaping from his custody.
Mba said the suspects would be charged to court on completion of investigation.
Also, the Zone 2 Police Command, Lagos, on Wednesday, paraded 26 suspected criminals arrested for being involved in different criminal activities in parts of Lagos and Ogun.
Parading the suspects, the Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police in charge of the command, Mr Lawal Shehu, said investigations into the cases were on-going and that efforts were also on-going to arrest more suspects.
The AIG said that the zone had received a report of the criminal activities around Alagbado area of Lagos through a petition.
He said that the petition was approved and was referred to the Zonal Intervention Squad (ZIS) for Immediate action.
“On the 2nd of April, a case of murder, malicious damage and assault was reported through a written petition addressed to the office of the AIG.
“The petition was approved and the ZIS swung into action and moved to Alagbado an area in Lagos State and made some arrests.
“The suspects are Kehinde Oladipupo,38; Kofoworola Olaonipekun, 35; Nurudeen Oseni, 39; and Balogun Azeez,39.
“Others Include Efunogbon Adedeji,40; and Eyebiokun Adewale,26; all male,” he said.
Shehu added that the suspects had confessed to the allegations and they would be charged to court.
“The suspects confessed that they belong to Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) under the leadership of one Bakare Taofeek who hired them as thugs to take over a tricycle garage at Moshalashi Bus-stop Alagbado.
“The suspects further stated that they have fought the chairman and other members of the park while one Sakiru Bashiru was shot dead and others sustained bullets injury,” he said.
Two other suspected kidnappers were also paraded along with the land grabbers.
The AIG added that the “Operation Puff Ader” which was recently launched in the Zone was aimed at fighting any form of criminal activities in the zone.
“I assure the citizens of the Zone that we are committed to protecting the states.
“We are here to ensure that criminals do not have a place in the zone.
“The Puff Ader are on ground during the festive periods and will still be there after the festivities,” he said.
Exhibits recovered by the police included 100 locally made guns, 45 pump action guns, 400 pieces of live cartridges, charms and cutlasses.