After police arrested 82 kidnap and robbery suspects, calming nerves in communities fringing the Kaduna-Abuja Road, residents say hoodlums are attacking and killing them for being informants. ABDULGAFAR ALABELEWE reports
Many came to grief on Kaduna-Abuja Expressway where they were robbed, killed or kidnapped. Then, a reinforced police team showed up, arresting no fewer than 82 suspects. That feat not only spread joy and relief in villages near the expressway but also among commuters on the road. Now there is a new wave of fear in those communities, where residents said crime is fighting back. They said criminals believed to be robbers and kidnappers have been hacking residents down, calling them police informants.
Kidnapping and robbery have since the suppression of Boko Haram insurgents been on the increase along Kaduna-Abuja highway. But the heavy presence of security agents on the road during the six weeks of diversion of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport activities to Kaduna International Airport kept them at bay. However, despite the retention of about 600 policemen on the highway after the airport’s relocation, the evil men returned to their old pastimes, even with more sophistication.
Failure of the 600 policemen to check the excesses of the criminals forced the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris to engage the villagers along the highway. The villagers alleged that bad eggs in the police were sabotaging efforts to rid the highway of kidnappers.
The people of Rijana who played host to the IGP and then the Minister of Interior, Lt-Gen Abdulrahman Danbazzau told them that the kidnappers had killed 18 of their kinsmen who provided intelligence to the police.
Spokesman of the community Abdulsalam Abubakar told both IGP and the Minister during their visits, “Sincerely, we have started getting relief with the presence of security chiefs and top government officials like you who have come to show concern about what is happening in our domain. What is happening on this road is very disheartening and we members of the communities around are living in fear and anxiety, specifically we members of the Rijana community are very interested in supporting this operation with useful information but we are in serious trouble in this community.
“It’s not that we don’t have information to give but we are scared because we can’t see why 600 security personnel will be around here and they will not be able to enter the bush and flush out the criminals. Our youths are now spoilt. They have mixed with criminals and they have been corrupted by them.
“But our major problem is the fear of death. Our people are now scared to give information to the security. We have hitherto been giving information to the police but instead of seeing improvement and progress in the area of security, it is the other way round.
“Everybody knows in this community that in the process of giving out information to the security, we have lost 18 people. There was one of us who was seen as a very brave man. He gave a list of suspects to the security and he was macheted into pieces three days after in the presence of his wife. So also, there was a gentleman, Mallam Abdulrahman who also gave information to the security he was also macheted to death, same with Yakubu, Sani and Solomon, son of a village chief (Galadima). All died through information given to the security agents.
“I swear in the name of God, there are bad eggs among the security personnel especially the police. Our patriotic Inspector General of Police has done very well because we have observed that at every u-turn along this expressway, there is a police patrol van with a minimum of 10 personnel. But unfortunately, you will hear that in-between there are cases of armed robbery or kidnapping. And if you tell a policeman that robbery or kidnapping is ongoing somewhere close by, he will tell you pointblank that he will not go because he does not carry the weapon criminals carry.
“It is very disturbing that IGP has deployed 600 policemen to this area and not even a common chicken has been arrested. We believe that our police have requisite intelligence to tackle this problem,” he said
Apparently worried by the development, IGP on July 25 launched Operation Absolute Sanity with the mandate of rooting kidnappers out of the highway. A statement from Police spokesman CSP, Jimoh Moshood said the IGP deployed the operation, comprising of Special Police Force, Police Mobile Force, Counter Terrorism Squad and Anti-Kidnapping Unit for the assignment.
Moshood explained that the IGP is concerned over the prevalence of cases of kidnapping on Abuja-Kaduna Highway.
He added that the deployed a Joint Police Team with Headquarters at Rijanah, Kaduna State are under specific and definite mandate to root out the kidnap for ransom gangs and armed robbery gangs that have being terrorizing the Abuja-Kaduna Highway.
However, barely five days after, 32 kidnappers bearing various kinds of guns and other dangerous weapons were nabbed around the highway. They were paraded on 31st July, 2017 by the force spokesman, CSP Jimoh Moshoodat Police Divisional Headquarters in Katari, Kaduna State.
Over ten serviceable AK47 riffles were recovered from the suspects who belong to four different kidnap gang. Moshood attributed the arrest of the suspects to the launch of ‘Operation Absolute Sanity’ by the Inspector General of Police
He said, “The IGP, concerned about the issue of kidnapping along Abuja-Kaduna highway deployed a special team to root out kidnappers that have been terrorizing the highway. “We have made significant progress in ensuring that Abuja-Kaduna highway is safe for passengers, travellers and other road users including communities that live along the highway because they are not spared too. Aside the kidnap of travellers, the kidnappers still go into villages to kidnap and terrorise community people.
He said, “32 of the suspects have been arrested by the team and we recovered several serviceable AK47 from them. It is the weapons that they use in terrorising and kidnapping people for ransom. The special teams deployed are to ensure the arrest of all kidnap elements from their hideout and make the highway safe again for all road users.
“We have not recorded a single case of kidnapping or armed robbery since the operation commenced and it is a pointer that the operation is working. The suspects have confessed to various roles they played and they belong to about four kidnapping gangs. Some are in charge of kidnapping while some others are responsible for negotiation and collection of ransom from families of the victims”, he said.
Two days after, another gang of dare devil armed robbers were nabbed by men of the Kaduna State Police Command after a serious gun battle. One of the robbers was gunned down, while four others were arrested.
Parading the suspects at the Police Command headquarters in Kaduna, alongside five suspected kidnappers arrested same day, and two suspected Indian hemp dealers, Kaduna State Police Commissioner, Mr. Agyole Abeh while said, the arrests were products of renewed commitment to keep the highway safe.
Abeh told newsmen that the police in Kaduna under his watch are committed to smoking out criminals.
The Commissioner explained that, the armed robbers were engaged in gun battle during a robbery operation along the highway, while one of them was fatally injured, four others were arrested.
He said the suspected Indian Hemp dealers were apprehended with a trailer load of Indian Hemp, adding that some of the suspects were at large.
24 after, the Kaduna Police Command’s exploit, the teams of Operation Absolute Sanity also announced arrest of another set of 40 suspected kidnappers along the Kaduna-Abuja highway. The police said the arrest came as the teams have located some kidnappers’ camps.
The Police spokesman, CSP Jimoh Moshood who paraded the second batch of the suspects at Rijana, Kaduna State The suspects were arrested at various villages along the highway, where they have their operational bases and camps.
He said, the Commander of Operation Sanity and his personnel have not rested on their oars, as they arrested 40 suspects in addition the 32 paraded on Monday 31st July, 2017.
CSP Jimoh disclosed that the police has been able to penetrate the kidnappers and locate their camps, even as he said some of their captives were rescued in the process, adding that, police operatives have taken over the bushes on the highway and confirmed that efforts have intensified to arrest the sponsors of the group who are at large.
According to him, “we have 40 suspects before us. These 40 suspects were arrested in the acts. They operate in different camps led by one, Ali Bello alias Tsonge. He is the Grand Commander of all the kidnappers you are seeing here. We also have Goma Shehu, alias Nama Gogo. Shehu is a notorious leader of kidnap for ransom gang that has been operating and terrorising passengers along Kaduna-Abuja highway way.
“We also have another gang leader by name, Mohammed Mujua. Others include Danladi Hassan, Mohammed Abubakar, Egwu Ogiri, and Emmanuel Awobi among others”, he said.
Items recovered from the suspects, include 3 double barrel guns, 2 single barrel guns, one assault rifle mounted with telescope, one locally made pistol revolver with 9.62 ammunition, pump action riffle, revolver, locally made 5MG, 30 live cartridges, assorted ammunitions, two magazines and assorted charms.
Other are five laptops, three IPads, several mobile telephone handsets, jewelries, wristwatches and others.
The force spokesman however assured those travelling on the highway of their safety and equally called on villagers and community leaders in crime prone areas to continue to collaborate with the police and other security agencies to rid criminals from their localities.
