IRT arrests another kidnap kingpin, politicians in Taraba

Efforts by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP)’s Intelligence Response Team (IRT) to rid Taraba State of kidnappers and armed robbers have started yielding fruits, as the team has arrested another kidnap kingpin.

Confirming the report, a senior police officer, who pleaded anonymity, fingered the suspect as the mastermind of most kidnap and robbery cases in the southern part of the state.

The suspect, who was reportedly arrested following a tip off, was taken to the Force Headquarters in Abuja for interrogation, he added.His words, “We have been mandated by our Abuja office not to comment on the recent happenings that led to the killing of three of our colleagues, but the good thing is that series of arrests have been made by the IRT team. Of recent, another suspected kidnap kingpin was arrested by the team.”

Apart from the kidnap suspect, several other persons, one of whom was a special adviser to the state government, as well as of some politicians, were said to have been arrested by the team in connection with the Hamisu Wadume case.

“Several politicians were subsequently arrested and interrogated by the IRT, and their houses searched,” he said. While some of the suspects have reportedly been released on bail, “several others were taken to the Force Headquarters,” together with confiscated vehicles belonging to the suspects, which the police officer described as “their operational vehicles”.

The former aide, who was released on bail, denied involvement in any criminal activity. He told journalists that he identified one of the suspects as one of the boys that had been terrorising his house and his water company in Jalingo, the state capital.

He disclosed that he had reported the suspect to the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Jalingo severally, adding that the suspect consequently vowed to implicate him. He dismissed the claim that he supplied the detained suspects with guns and operational vehicles.

(Credit: The Guardian)