Nigeria is still gasping under the strangulating
hold of kidnappers, even as the curtain begins to drop on 2016.
Yes, the dreaded Boko Haram sect used to be a terror
that Nigerians worried and fret about, but not anymore.
The Muhammadu Buhari led administration has
decimated and demystified Boko Haram. True, the sect members still bomb and
run, but the terror that had once enveloped the country, has evaporated.
Another terror, kidnapping, has replaced Boko Haram.
These days, anybody, irrespective of social status, ethnicity and religion can
be kidnapped. The kidnappers now collect as low as N20, 000 for ransom.
The year 2016, was one that witnessed policemen fighting
kidnappers; many gangs were smashed and several victims rescued. But the more
the policemen fought, the more kidnappers seemed to increase. No thanks to the
recession in the country.
Most of the breakthroughs in cases that had to do
with kidnapping were achieved by operatives attached to the Inspector-General of
Police, (IGP), Ibrahim Idris’s Special Intelligence Response Squad (IRT). The
IRT is headed by an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Mr. Abba Kyari.
The year also observed law enforcement personnel
embracing kidnapping. Some of the 2016 kidnap incidents were daring and left
Nigerians stunned.
In October, 2016, a gang of kidnappers, abducted
Mrs. Margaret Emefiele, wife of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr.
Godwin Emefiele.
The suspects, who were later arrested after
collecting a huge amount of money from Emefiele, said the abduction of Margaret
was random. She was released less than 24 hours after her abduction.
On November 13, the Human Resources Manager of
Dangote Industries Limited, Mr. Istifanus Bello Gurama was abducted and killed
after he went to pay ransom for five workers of Dangote Company that were
kidnapped.
The kidnappers killed him after they discovered Gurama
came with just N5.6 million, instead of the N100m ransom they had demanded for.
Three men, Abubakar Gide (24), Abdullahi Salihu (22)
and Babuga Adamu (25), were later arrested for his murder. During
interrogation, Salihu confessed to have shot Gurama in the head. It was a
killing shot.
Gurama’s body was dragged from the point he was killed
and dumped in a river.
The police, early in the year, also smashed a gang
that specialised in kidnapping highly placed Nigerians. Before the gang was
cracked, it had abducted many elites and collected ransom.
Some of those abducted are the Deputy High
Commissioner of Sierra Leon, the Executive Director of Dangote Group Engineer
Mansur Ahmed, Chairman of Code of conduct Bureau and several others. Most of
the victims were abducted along Abuja-Kaduna Expressway.
After the gang was smashed, the police arrested 12
members of the gang. The police said the gang had been terrorising Kaduna State
and its environs for years.
Recovered from the gang are three AK47 rifles and
Army Uniforms.
A police source said: “ On July 3, 2016, sequel to
IGP's directives, IRT Operatives were deployed to Kaduna State
and after seven days of dedicated and
none stop follow up, all the kidnappers involved were arrested by IRT, supported
by Kaduna Anti-kidnapping Operatives. Three AK47 rifles with serial numbers; LU3855,
406724, AC03302, three loaded AK47 magazines,
containing total of 90 rounds and two
sets of Nigerian Army Camouflage uniforms were recovered. The girlfriend to the
second in command of the gang, Fatima Umar, 28, was equally arrested.”
The suspects further disclosed that the gang
specialised in buying cars snatched from abducted victims.
Acting on their confessions, the IRT Operatives went
to Kano State and arrested four men.
The suspects were Abdulrahman Hassan aka Risi, 42, Abubakar Datti aka Baballiya, 45, Aminu
Adamu Yakasai, 49, and Shuaibu Yahaya,
48, all in Kano State.
The police said: “The suspects confessed to have
received more than 100 cars from various groups of armed robbers and
kidnappers, who operate within Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Niger states. The 100
cars included the Toyota 4-Runner Jeep of the Deputy High Commissioner and the
Land Cruiser jeep of the Executive Director of Dangote Group Engr Mansur Ahmed
among others. The syndicate used to cross the cars they collected from the
kidnappers to Niger Republic and other neighbouring countries.”
The year also saw the police pursuing and arresting
killers of Honourable Gideon Aremu, member of Oyo State House of Assembly.
Sequel to the murder of Aremu in Ibadan, on July 1,
combine teams from IRT, was deployed to Oyo State by Idris.
The detectives, after four weeks of intensive follow
up arrested the gang leader of the group and three others. The suspects are;
Ayobami Adedeji, gang leader, Sodiq Adedeji, the first receiver of Aremu’s Phone, Alfa Isiaka and Adeniran
Oladapo, who was arrested with the late Aremu's Samsung Phone.
Ayobami Adedeji confessed to the murder of Aremu and
mentioned other gang members at large. He said that one of his gang members,
Abbey, pulled the trigger that killed Aremu. According to him, their plan was
only to rob the late Aremu, before Abbey shot and killed him.
It was the year that some daring kidnappers,
brazenly stormed into the palace of Oba of Iba in Lagos and abducted the Oba.
Police investigation led to the arrest of the kidnappers’
gang leader on June 6, 2016. The gang
leader's name is Duba Furejo Aka General Duba.
After arresting Furejo, the police quizzed him; his
confessions were used to trail and arrest his second in command, Ododomu Isaiah,
40. He was arrested at Iyana Ipaja Motor Park, where he went to board a bus to
Ondo State.
Isaiah told the police: “We’re 20 gang members. We
operate from the creeks. But it was only eight of us that participated in the abduction
of the Oba. I and Blessing, who is still in the creek, moved the Oba from our
camp to shore after payment of ransom.”
Another set of kidnappers, which had been unleashing
hell in Katsina State were cracked. The gang kidnapped the Honorable Sani Bello
Member House of Reps, representing Mashi Federal Constituency Katsina State.
Although they collected ransom from Bello, policemen
recovered part of the ransom, where it was buried in a bush.
Determined to check operations of kidnappers and
pipeline vandals in Lagos and Ogun states in 2016, the Federal Government carried
out aerial bombardments of creeks between Lagos and Ogun states. It was a joint
operation. The Joint Task Force (JTF) comprised the Navy, Air Force, and the
Army, alongside operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria
Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the police.
The aerial bombardments by the JTF were tagged ‘Operation
Awatse,’ a Hausa word for ‘scatter,’ which had land, air and maritime
components, with each under a commander.
The kidnappers scattered during the aerial
bombardments. Law enforcements believed they scattered to other states within
Nigeria.
The police would later arrest seven gang members in
Benin City, alleged to be part of the gang that had been terrorizing Lagos
before the military aerial bombardments.
“The gang was perfecting plans to abduct a woman and
robbed a bank in Benin City, when police smashed it,” said a police source.
In August, the police also smashed a gang of
kidnappers and arrested four suspects. The suspects were alleged to have been
terrorizing Katsina and Benue states.
A police source noted: “Upon receipt of several
complaints from different groups and individuals in Benue State about activities
of some kidnappers in the states, the IGP deployed IRT Operatives. After two
weeks of intensive follow up, the gang
leader of a gang of kidnappers, identified as Terna Iorlu aka Rocker, 28, Ternenger Terwase aka Bishop 29, Terungwa
Abasuwa aka Bobby 27 and Oryina Bosua aka Man U, 34, were arrested in Katsina
Ala, Gboko and Makurdi Town. They
confessed to be involved in several kidnappings in Benue State. The gang members
confessed to be responsible for the abduction of an Indian expatriate, in
Katsina Ala. The gang also kidnapped one Mr. Charles, an Igbo man, operating a frozen
fish business at Adikpo, a suburb of Kwande L.G.A. They were behind the kidnap
of a prominent Chief, named Mr. Tsegba in Gboko L.G.A. The suspects collected
N5m ransom before he was released. They also confessed to have kidnapped several
lecturers and business men in college of education, Katsina Ala and neighbouring
towns.”
In August 23, kidnappers abducted the manager of
NNPC Mega Station in Port Harcourt. When police got the suspects, two AK47
rifles were recovered from them.
The gang was alleged to have been terrorising Rivers
State. IRT Operatives intercepted the hoodlums at UTC Junction in Port Harcourt.
Upon Sighting the Operatives, the hoodlums opened fire and engaged the
Operatives in shootouts. As a result, two of the hoodlums later identified as
Bright Umem and Ifiyemi were wounded and
rushed to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, where they were
confirmed dead. Exhibit recovered from the hoodlums include; two AK47 rifles
with five 5 magazines fully loaded and a Nissan Sunny Salon car.
The review of the 2016 wouldn’t be complete without
mentioning the kidnap and subsequent murder of Reverend John Alex Adeyi (Ph.D),
Catholic Diocese of Otukpo and Parish Priest of St Bernard's Parish Okpoga in
Benue State. He was kidnapped on April 24.
The killers were arrested between September 1 and 14,
2016 and singing like birds, confessed how the reverend was killed. The
reverend was killed after the kidnappers collected ransom from his family.
The four men, who masterminded the kidnap of the
reverend, were later arrested. They were picked up in Bauchi, Enugu and Benue states.
The Black Nokia Lumia Phone of the late reverend was
recovered in Boto Village Bauchi State, while the phone used for the ransom negotiation
was recovered in Obollo town, Enugu State.
The suspects confessed to have killed the reverend
in Ogonokwu Forest, Otukpa area Ogbadibo, LGA Benue State, from where his body
was recovered two months later.
The police stated: “They further confessed to have collected
N1.7 million ransom from his family after they killed him. The suspects led IRT
Operatives on September, 15, to the bush in Orokam area of Benue State, where
three guns, used in the operation were buried. Aliyu Garba who pulled the
trigger and killed the Reverend also identified the very gun he used to murder
the victim.”
On September
17, some landlords of an estate in Isheri, Lagos State, came out jogging and were
swooped up on and abducted. The suspects were pursued and arrested on
September, 27. One of the key members of the gang, James Kegbe aka JJ 38, was arrested
in Ore Town Ondo State, where he went to spend his share of the ransom.
The suspect confessed to the kidnapping of the
landlords and mentioned other gang members involved as Trust, Julius, Victor,
Prince, John, Senior Man and others.
Kegbe admitted that the gang collected N12million ransom
and N1.2million was his share.
On December 20, in a bid to tackle kidnapping in
schools, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State recruited 5000 military
trained personnel as guards for public schools in the state.
Ambode said the move was to strengthen security in
public, primary and secondary schools.
Within this year, two kidnap cases were recorded in
schools located in eastern part of the state.
If there’s one vital issue that Buhari’s
administration will need to tackle with unflinching determination in 2017, it’s
kidnapping. It has become the easiest way of making money, that graduates,
non-graduates, law enforcers and practically all Nigerians are embracing it. To
achieve this, more law enforcement officers need to be trained in tracking and
suspects’ profiling. This is the bedrock of the achievement of IRT, which many
security experts and stakeholders have applauded.
No comments:
Post a Comment