Police arrest suspected kidnapper, reject N1m bribe

The Kaduna State Police Command says its operatives attached to the Tafa Divisional Headquarters have arrested a suspected kidnapper and recovered N2.3m as share of the ransom collected from victims.

This was according to the command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, in a statement in Kaduna on Thursday.

He also said the suspect, Bello Muhammmad, from Zamafara State offered N1m bribe to the Divisional Police Officer to stop further investigation on the matter but was turned down by the officer.

According to him, on January 19, 2024, at about 2200 hours (10pm), the said Divisional Headquarters received credible information regarding the presence of a suspicious person in the Easyway Hotel in Tafa town.

He explained that operatives led by the DPO stormed the hotel and arrested the suspect, a 28-year-old Bello Muhammad from Zamfara State, and recovered the sum of N2,350,000. suspected to be proceeds of kidnapping.

He added that in the course of investigation, the suspect admitted to being a kidnapper who operated with his gang around Kagarko Forest in the state (Kaduna), saying the money recovered from him was his own share of the ransom collected from victims.

Besides, the police spokesman noted that a check on his mobile phone corroborated the suspect’s confession as pictures of him brandishing an AK47 rifle in a forest were retrieved.

“The said suspect, Bello Muhammad, thus offered a N1m backhander to the Divisional Police Officer to stop him furthering the investigation, which the police officer forthwith rejected. Investigation is still ongoing as the suspect is assisting the police with vital information.

“The Commissioner of Police, Kaduna State Command,  A.D. Ali, while praising the Tafa Division’s operatives, urged them and others not to relent but to increase the tempo until crimes and criminality were reduced minimally.

“Equally, the CP tasked hoteliers, recreation, and leisure service operators in the state to always scrutinise the identity of their customers to avoid providing criminals with a safe haven,” the spokesperson added.