Fleeing gang leader traced to lover’s house, rifle recovered

The suspects

Detectives attached to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Special Intelligence Response Team (IRT), have arrested a wanted kidnapper.

According to a police source, the suspected kidnapper, Bello Ardo aka Yellow, who is the leader of a gang of kidnappers and other members of his gang, scattered during gun duel with IRT operatives attached to Operation Absolute Sanity.

The suspect was traced and located in his girlfriend’s house after days of police hunting for him.

Ardo and his gang members were part of men that had been kidnapping and terrorizing unsuspecting Nigerians along Kaduna-Abuja routes.

The police source disclosed that during the aforementioned gun battle with the kidnappers, some escaped, others were grabbed.

During interrogation, some of those arrested squealed on their members.

The source further noted: “On September 22, in a follow up to confessions of kidnappers earlier arrested by our IRT men attached to Operation Absolute Sanity, one of the notorious gang leaders Bello Ardo aka Yellow was traced to Kachia Village where he went to visit his girlfriend, on sighting IRT detectives, the suspect jumped into the bush and attempted to escape. He was eventually re-arrested with bullet wounds. Immediate search of his house yielded one AK47 rifle, and two magazines with 43 rounds of live ammunition.”

The police said that Ardo died from the bullet wounds he sustained while attempting to escape. Before he died however, he mentioned names of nine members of his gang. He also mentioned his armourer Abdul, whom he told police was in possession of seven rifles belonging to the gang.

Other members of the gang arrested are Alhassan Umar, 27, Shuaibu Adamu,  27 and Adamu Dabo, 18. Umar has been fingered as the number two in the gang, while Adamu is alleged to be the cyclist that used to take Ardo to different areas of operation.