· Rescue victims
By Sarah NEGEDU
Security operatives, over the weekend, raided a bandits’ hideout at Gidan Dogo and Kweti Forest along the Kaduna/FCT border, where they arrested four kidnap kingpins and rescued a number of kidnap victims.
The operation, which was carried out by officers and men from the special forces of the Guards Brigade, Department of State Services and local hunters saw the decimation of the notorious ‘Mai One Million,’ kidnapping syndicate, alleged to be responsible for series of kidnappings and other heinous crimes in FCT and its environs.
FCT Commissioner of Police, Mr. Bennett Igweh, said the action which was based on credible intelligence led to the arrest of some ex-convicts, turned bandits, at Kubwa and Zuba hills.
Some of the suspects includes 25 years old Yahaya Abubakar, of Mpape, 32 years old Mohammed Mohamed of Zuba (an ex-convict), 20 years old Umar Aliyu and 32 years old Nura Abdullahi, also an ex-convict all picked at Kubwa and Zuba hills, respectively.
A statement in Abuja by the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, disclosed of a shootout between the bandits and the security operatives.
Adeh in the statement maintained that the Command has intensified coordinated operations in suspected bandits routes and camps.
“The operatives of the FCT Police command, in synergy with the special forces of guards brigade and DSS hunters, in a continued effort against criminality in FCT, on June 7, 2024, at about 10:00 am, acting on credible intelligence, stormed some identified kidnappers camps at Gidan Dogo and Kweti Forest, Kaduna State, bordering FCT, trailed and arrested four suspects: Yahaya Abubakar, 25 ‘m’ of Mpape, Mohammed Mohamed 32 ‘m’ of Zuba( an ex-convict), Umar Aliyu 20 and Nura Abdullahi 32 also an ex-convict at Kubwa and Zuba hills respectively.
“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.
“The coordinated operation, occasioned a shootout between the bandits and the security operatives, forcing them to scamper to safety and victims rescued. The illegally erected structures by the kidnappers in all the patrolled camps, were all decimated.”
While stating that the rescued victims have since been reunited with their families and loved ones, the police boss lauded the effort of the security operatives in the fight against criminality in the Nation’s Capital.
“He further reiterates the command’s unflinching commitment to ensuring the security and safety of the residents of FCT.”
He therefore urges the residents to be vigilant and take advantage of the police emergency lines in reporting suspicious activities through, 08032003913, 08028940883, 08061581938, and 07057337653.
