The Nigerian Police Force has arrested 2,726 suspects for various crimes, including kidnapping, car snatching, gun running, and cultism, in the last month.
This was announced on Friday by Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Muyiwa Adejobi, during a parade of the arrested suspects in Abuja.
Adejobi said, “The action underscores the Police Force’s relentless efforts to combat crime and bring perpetrators to justice.”
One of the notable cases involved Hauwa Yusuf, a 30-year-old woman from Dutsin-Ma LGA in Katsina State. She was intercepted while traveling from Lafia, Nasarawa State, to Katsina State in a Sienna Bus along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway. During a search, police found an AK-47 rifle and four magazines hidden inside a sack of garri.
“Upon interception, a search was conducted, and one AK-47 rifle without a breach number and four AK magazines concealed inside a white sack of garri were recovered from the suspect,” said Adejobi. During interrogation, Yusuf confessed that a notorious bandit named Aminu Basullube sent her to collect the arms in Katsina State. She explained, “I never knew that it was an AK-47 gun that was inside. They asked me to go and bring millet. Unfortunately, they did not bring millet but brought garri for me. Even when I saw the thing, I was apprehensive. I made a mistake by not asking questions.”
In another case, the police arrested a cattle rustler and kidnapper named Musa Saidu. He was reported for suddenly living a lavish lifestyle, including buying 12 cows and a motorcycle worth over N5 million, which raised suspicions in his community. Saidu admitted that he became a cattle rustler after his cattle were stolen. He confessed, “I know cattle rustling is a crime, but I did it because of what was done to me. After I made money, I stopped and went back to the village to spend my money.”
Adejobi added, “Following intelligence, operatives attached to the FID-STS left for Igbowo in Oyo State to investigate the activities of Musa Saidu on April 29. The investigations revealed that the suspect had left his community for five years and was doing menial jobs in Oyo State. Upon his return to his community in Kigakwu, Kaduna State, he started spending money extravagantly, buying different brands of new motorcycles and twelve cows in a day, amounting to the sum of N5 million.”
Saidu confessed that he was involved in kidnapping under the leadership of a gang commander named Haruna in the Birnin Gwari forest of Kaduna State. He said, “Twenty-five cows were given to me as the proceeds of my criminal activities, and I sold the cows in Kaduna State for N4,700,000. It was the money I used to buy the Bajaj motorcycles and twelve cows, ten female and two male, in Igboho, Oyo State.”
