Nine notorious highway-kidnappers arrested, weapons, cars, other items recovered

Operatives of the Nigeria Police Special Tactical Squad have arrested a 9-Man syndicate of high-profile kidnappers that specializes in kidnapping commuters on major highways in the North-Western region of the country Eons Intelligence reports.

The suspects arrested include: Bashir Sule, 25-years-old; Abubakar Haruna, 30-years-old; Babangida Bature, 25-years-old; Aliyu Idris, 24-years-old; Adam Jafar, 26-years-old; Usman Idris, 24-years-old; Yusuf Idris, 45-years-old; Sale Musa, 25-years-old and Umar Sale, 22-years-old.

They were arrested following investigations by the Police team which uncovered plans by the syndicate to carry out a major abduction of travelers along the Kano-Katsina expressway.

Recall that security operatives arrested the prime suspect, Bashir Sule, a notorious Kidnapper in the FCT.

The police gathered that he was known for taking a commuter bus to a motor-park, acting as a driver, to convey passengers. Bashir, while driving to the expected destination, stops at an agreed meeting point where his other gang members swoop in, attack, rob and abduct the passengers.

It was further gathered that Bashir sometimes joins commuter buses as a passenger and in the course of the journey provides information to his other gang members who then ambush the vehicle on the highway.

Also, security operatives arrested an 11-man syndicate for alleged kidnapping, armed robbery, illegal possession and illicit sale of prohibited firearms.

The syndicate, comprising two female members – Hafsat Adamu, 24-years old and Aisha Ibrahim, 30-years-old – rely on these women to transport their weapons from one point to another, taking advantage of the harmless look associated with women.

In a similar development, the police also arrested a trans-national car theft syndicate comprising 34 suspects, who specializes in stealing cars from Nigeria and smuggling them to Niger Republic and other neighbouring countries. 15 cars and two jamming devices were recovered from the suspects.

Eleven (11) high-calibre grenades, eleven (11) sophisticated firearms, fifteen (15) stolen cars, two (2) vehicle jammers, three hundred and eighty-nine (389) AK-47 ammunition, amongst others, were recovered from the suspects.