Monday, June 1, 2020

We shall resume kidnapping, killings after COVID-19, says …Abuja-Kaduna expressway suspected bandit


Juliana Francis
A suspect, Mustapha Mohammed, 26, has revealed that the incessant kidnappings and killings along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway and other routes in northern parts of Nigeria have stopped because he and his other partners in crime were afraid of contracting COVID-19.

Mohammed disclosed that as soon as the COVID-19 was checked or eradicated, kidnapping and other heinous crimes will resume along the routes. These routes have witnessed several kidnappings and killings. Aside from civilians being kidnapped and some killed, a staggering number of law enforcement officers had also been killed along these routes. 
Mohammed and two of his cronies were arrested by Operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team (IRT), in an operation led by the Unit’s head, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Mr Abba Kyari. Mohammed said that his arrest wouldn’t make any difference in the plans of the gang to immediately commence operation after COVID-19.
His words: “We have stopped kidnapping for now because of the outbreak of COVID-19. We shall go back to our operation when COVID-19 is over. We have radios and we listen to news. We have food in our camps worth over N5million. We used to come out from our camps to buy medicines and other items. In fact, it was because I came out to buy some items that IRT Operatives arrested me. Our gang leader, Nasiru Kachalam a.k.a Yellow, is inside the forest with all our guns. When I came out to buy food for our gang members, I left my rifle in the care of a friend, who is also a member of our gang. When we kidnap women, Nasiru, Bello, Musa and Idris will rape them. I don’t join them in raping our female victims because I have a charm given to me by my father. The charm forbids me having sex when I have it on me.”
The suspect explained that the gang sometimes ago stopped kidnapping on highways because of too much disturbances and interferences from law enforcement agents. He said that rather quit operating on the highways, the gang decided to restrategise and change their modus operandi. Now, rather than focus majorly on kidnapping victims on highways, they target rich people’s homes and go there to abduct victims.
It was due to the change in the gang’s modus operandi that they stormed the house of Mrs Bolanle Ataga, wife of a medical doctor, Philip Ataga. They also attacked a seminary where Michael Nnadi was abducted. Mohammed admitted that the gang aside from numerous kidnappings on highways had lost counts of the number of houses and villages it had attacked, abducting victims.
The gang after abducting 18-year-old Nnadi killed him. The gang also killed Mrs Ataga.
According to Mohammed, both victims were killed by Nasiru. Nasiru killed Mrs Ataga by inflicting machete cuts on her after she rebuffed his attempts to rape her.
Mohammed said: “Nasiru thought that the woman would cooperate, but when he tried to rape her, she bit him. He got angry, brought out a cutlass and slashed her on the head and stomach. She fell to the ground and started bleeding. She died at the spot. Nasiru ordered that the woman’s corpse be taken to a certain location and dumped there. He then called her husband to go and pick her corpse.”
The same Nasiru also shot Nnadi to death because the seminarian preached to him, asking him to repent from his evil ways of kidnappings, killings and raping.
Mohammed recalled: “Our leader was angry with Nnadi for preaching to him. He asked why such small rat should be preaching to him about God. Our leader had already released Nnadi, but when the boy was getting close to the seminary, he brought out his rifle and shot him. He died at the spot.”
Nasiru killed both victims after collecting ransoms from their respective families. He collected N8million from Mrs Ataga’s family and N10million for the seminarian release.
Our reporter gathered that the cold-bloodedness of Nasiru has made IRT Operatives to place him on their Most Wanted Persons List. It is further gathered that the operatives are already closing in on him.
Mohammed’s gang specialised in kidnapping and terrorising the Abuja-Kaduna expressways and other routes in northern parts of Nigeria. Investigations, however, showed that Mohammed’s gang was just one of several gangs causing havoc on major routes in the north.
Mohammed was arrested at Maraban-Jos, along Kaduna Zaria Expressway. IRT Operatives later used him as bait to catch two other members of the gang, while the hunt for other fleeing members of the gang continues.
Mohammed explained that before the gang members graduated to kidnapping, rape and murder, they were just farmers, who started out with cattle rustling.
Mohammed, a widower with one child, said he assisted his father in rearing cows. When he started rearing cows for his dad, the old man had just 10 cows, but today, the family has over 50 cows. It is believed that Mohammed rustled most of the cows from unsuspecting victims.
Mohammed said: “I joined kidnapping three years ago. It was our gang leader Nasiru that introduced me to kidnapping.  I met Nasiru while I was rearing cows. We became friends and went into cattle rustling. We rustled as many as 200 and 400 cows at a single operation. Nasiru was in charge of selling the cows.  On my first cattle rustling operation, I was given N700, 000, but on the second and third operation, Nasiru used the money we realised to buy AK47 rifles and ammunition. We have many cartons of live ammunition in our camp with over 51 pieces of AK47 rifles. Nasiru sometimes sells our ammunition. There’s a guy that used to supply us the arms and ammunition. I don’t know his name, but Nasiru knows him well.”
Mohammed said that as the gang continued with cattle rustling and buying of guns, their armoury swelled. They then decided that the guns would be more useful in kidnapping than cattle rustling. He and Nasiru organised and got more members into the gang.
He said: “Our first operation was at Rigana area, where we kidnapped four persons by first blocking the Abuja Kaduna Expressway. We were 15 men that went for that first operation. Nasiru of course, led the operation. We all wore military camouflage uniforms and mounted five motorcycles. We then created three check points. The first check point was for us to monitor those driving expensive cars and alert our colleagues at other check points to set a trap and launch an attack. In our first operation, we kidnapped two persons in a jeep and another two in a Golf car.  We took the victims into Rigana Forest, where we held them in captive for 10 days before N6million ransom was paid.”
According to Mohammed, he got N400, 000 as his share in his first kidnap operation. Whenever victims were abducted, Nasiru and another gang member, Amedo handled ransom negotiations.
“In my third operation, we used the same method of check points and military uniforms to operate. We chose the vehicles that had rich people and ended up kidnapping five victims that day. We collected N10million ransom from them and I got N500,000 as my share,” said Mohammed.
The suspect said that part of the gang’s modus operandi was to contract commercial cyclists, who they pay to help them source for rich victims to kidnap. After ransom is paid, the cyclists would be given their own share of the money.
The gang was part of those that stormed Engravers College, Kakawu Daji, area in Kaduna State, where they abducted six students and two teachers. The gang collected N15million before the eight victims were released. Mohammed said that the gang also carried out three other major kidnapping operations along Abuja Kaduna Expressway. One was the abduction of four Rigana villagers along the Abuja Kaduna Expressway. The victims spent seven days in the kidnappers’ den and only got their freedom after family members coughed up N6million. The second major operation was at Gadam Mallam Maman, village, along the Abuja-Kaduna Express Road, where the gang kidnapped three passengers and later smiled away with N4million ransom. Mohammed disclosed that the gang made N10million from the attack on Olam Farms Company, where they abducted some people.


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