The police have announced the arrest of 25 criminal suspects, including some suspected to be involved in the killings of an Assistant Comptroller of Immigration, Salisu Usman, in Nasarawa State and a six-year-old girl in Kogi State.
The police spokesperson, Frank Mba, made the announcement through a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to the statement, one of the suspects, Friday Domozu, 23, from Jarkama in Bassa LGA of Kogi State, allegedly led the gang that kidnapped and killed the six-year old girl, Farida Yahaya.
Miss Farida was kidnapped in the Gabije area of Kogi on November 2, 2020 during which a 14-year old boy, Abdulraheem, escaped from the kidnappers.
According to the police, the kidnappers demanded a huge ransom from the family of the girl but later killed her because the demand was not met.
“Efforts by the (police) team to rescue the little girl led to the arrest of the principal suspect, Friday Domozu, who led the police team to a deep forest at Gabije area of Kogi State where the remains of the little girl were recovered,” Mr Mba said.
He said the police also found the decomposed body of another victim, Ibrahim Madaki, who had earlier been declared missing.
“The remains of the victims have been deposited for autopsy,” Mr Mba stated.
He said Mr Domozu claimed he was recruited into the military but had withdrawn five months into the training on medical grounds.
Mr Mba said the police had intensified efforts to track down other members of Mr Domosu’s gang, still at large.
The police identified another suspect, Halidu Usman of Akwanga, Nasarawa State, as the leader of the gang that killed the immigration officer at Gudi in Akwanga LGA of Nasarawa State on June 15, 2020.
Mr Mba said the suspects stormed the house of the late Mr Usman and killed him and his younger sister, Sa’adatu Usman, a final year medical student of Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto State.
“The killers also abducted the wife of the victim, Asmau Salisu, and collected ransom from the family before her release. The suspect is assisting the police team in the investigations and arrest of other members of the group still at large,” Mr Mba said.
Also arrested were four alleged members of a kidnap and armed robbery gang said to be behind the recent kidnapping of some staff of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, and their families.
“The gang members, Abubakar Aliyu, a.k.a Maigiwa, ‘m’ 27years; Aliyu Bello ‘m’ 18 years; Ishaku Kabiru, ‘m’ 30 years; and Abubakar Yakubu, a.k.a Dogo, ‘m’ 23years; were arrested following police investigations and rescue operations for the kidnap victims.
“The police team on 7th January, 2020 arrested the suspect which led to the arrest of two other gang members; Abubakar Yusuf, a.k.a Ndalati, ‘m’ 42 years; and Abubakar Ahmodu, ‘m’ 20 years.
“Investigations reveal that Abubakar Ahmodu is responsible for spying on and identifying potential victims of kidnap for the gang.”
Mr Mba said Mr Ahmodu provided information to the gang on his own father who they kidnapped and collected a ransom of two million naira from.
According to the police spokesperson, the suspects will be charged to court on conclusion of investigations.
Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has commended the Nigerians who provided useful information to the police that led to the arrest of the 25 suspects.
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