Juliana Francis
Operatives of the Force Intelligence Bureau Intelligence Response Team (FIB-IRT) have arrested two suspected kidnappers, believed to be among those that had been terrorising the Kaduna-Abuja Road.
The suspects were said to have been arrested after allegedly invading Bandoko area of Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The two suspects have been identified as Mohammed Sanni, 26, and Abdulrahman Lolo, 20. Both are cattle farmers.
It was gathered that at 11:30 pm on the 29th of April 2022, some bandits attacked a house in Bandoko, where they kidnapped a woman, with the initial plan to gang-raped her.
The woman who sells ‘fura-denunu’ within the area and the bandits had been watching her and then eventually attacked her home.
A police source said: “Upon breaking into the room of the woman, the bandits found her with her husband. At this point, they changed their plan from kidnapping for rape to kidnapping for ransom. The invaders demanded the key to the motorcycle of the 35-year-old husband, Jibril Saidu. After collecting the key, they forced him to remove his shirt and trousers, which were used to blindfold him, and tied his hands to his back. They put him on the motorcycle and escaped from the village into far away Gbadoko Forest. Immediately they left, the mother of the husband raised the alarm, and the residents came out but could not chase after the invaders for fear that the kidnappers may be armed with guns.”
According to Saidu: “An unidentified group of persons invaded my house, flashed torch into my eyes and I couldn’t see. They threatened to kill me and my family if I did not cooperate with them. They ordered me to remove my clothes, and at the same time, requested the key to my motorcycle, which I quickly surrendered to them. They used my clothes to blindfold my eyes and tied my two hands to the back. They led me out of the house to my motorcycle and drove me away. I was rescued by the IRT men.”
The villagers immediately organised local vigilantes to secure the community and then sent a distress call to the IRT operatives attached to Operation Puff Adder for urgent action.
When the operative arrived, the villagers assisted in showing them directions and the operatives pursued the bandits.
“Around 5:am on 30th of April 2022, the operatives were able to track the invaders into their hideout at Gbadoko forest where the suspects on sighting the police officers, abandoned their victim and motorcycle and fled into the thick forest. The operatives continued their chase after them and were able to arrest one of the kidnappers, Abdulrahman Lolo, a 20-year-old herder,” said the source.
Lolo said: “I and one Abubarka Baya rear cattle in the same village. Abubakar asked me to follow him to a Fulani Ruga settlement in the same area. Our plan is to abduct a woman for the purpose of raping her, but it turned out to be the kidnapping of her husband. We only made use of torches, cutlasses, and sticks, not guns. Others who went together with me for the operation are Sani, Abubakar, Umar, and Seif. All of us are boys of Alhaji Lolo of Gadam Mallam-Mamam. The other boys mentioned have been going out for operations before, but this is my own first time. The role I played was to mount road and pass information to other members who escaped when police chased us.”
