• DPO paid us N200,000 to free sergeant –Suspects
Detectives attached to the Inspector- General of Police (IG), Ibrahim Idris’ Special Intelligence Response Squad (IRT), have smashed a kidnap gang coordinated by a dismissed official of the Department of State Services (DSS). The 35-year-old DSS officer, Abdulrasheed Maigari, was arrested along with 10 gang members.
The gang was said to specialise in kidnapping and robbing residents of Abuja. Maigari is a 2006 Political Science graduate of Bayero University, Kano (BUK). He was recruited into DSS as a graduate officer in September 2011. He was dismissed and charged to court on November 12, 2015, for conniving with some soldiers to rob some people of N310 million in Abuja.
He was released by the court on November 28, 2016 and immediately joined the kidnapping gang in Abuja. Maigari graduated to become the coordinator of the gang. He also rented the two houses in Suleija where the gang used to keep victims.
Items recovered from them are one AK47 rifle and two pistols. A police source said: “One AK47 rifle with serial number 5163908, three AK47 magazines loaded, with 90 live rounds of ammunition and two pistols, with 14 rounds of ammunition were recovered from the kidnappers. “The gang used to trail prospective vic-tims driving expensive cars in Abuja in the evening hours.
They would block and kidnap their victims at traffic lights, house or estate gates and other places. The gang members have confessed to several kidnappings within Abuja city, including Mr. Japhet and his wife in Gwarimpa area, where N5 million ransom was paid.
“Two university ladies in Wuse 2, Abuja, were kidnapped by the gang and N2 million ransom was paid. Two other ladies in a Mercedes Jeep in Gwarimpa were also kidnapped and N5 million was paid before they were released. “A filling station owner in Gwarimpa paid N50 million as ransom before he was released. There are many of such cases.
They have kidnapped a lot of people and collected money. Efforts to arrest the only remaining gang member at large are in progress.” On March 3, the gang allegedly abducted 67-year-old Alhaji Isa Ozi Salami at Maitama, Abuja. Idris ordered the IRT operatives, led by an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Mr. Abba Kyari, to go after the kidnappers, arrest and rescue the victim. The IRT and Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Abuja Command jointly swung into action.
After five days of hunting for the suspects, between March 26 and 28, 11 of the kidnappers were arrested. Salami, former General Manager of Peugeot Automobile of Nigeria (PAN), Managing Director, Nigeria Paper Mills, Jebba and Chairman, Gateway Insurance, was rescued from the kidnappers’ hideout, a two-bedroom house rented by the kidnappers in remote part of Suleja town, Niger State.
One of those arrested is Kelvin Emeka (28), who is the gang leader. Emeka had once been charged to Gwagwalada High Court in October 2016 with three others for kidnapping and armed robbery.
He was arrested and charged after kidnapping Miss Ngozi Dabiri and several others in Abuja. Emeka and his gang members were released on December 8, 2016. This was less than eight weeks after being charged for robbery and kidnapping.
The second suspect is Ndubisi Prince Ozor.
He is the second in command of the gang. He was also charged to court for armed robbery on November 2016.
He was released by the court on January 25, 2017. Sunday Tyavnor (33) is the arms dealer of the gang. He sold the AK47 rifle used for the kidnappings for N470,000 and the two pistols for N60,000 each. Tyavnor was arrested in Nasarawa State. Zayor Alfred, 23, specialised in guarding kidnapped victims. He was arrested in the camp where the victim was rescued.
Avah Joseph (25), also used to guard kidnapped victims and go for kidnapping operations. He was also arrested in the kidnappers’ camp. Gabriel Friday (33) is the driver of the gang, while Rajab Baba Ishiaka (22) and Ali Sanni (27), also used to guard victims. Nuhu Sule (20), also guard victims while Mohammed Abubakar (21) supplies the gang members with registered SIM cards.
Source:New Telegraph
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