The alleged mastermind of the 10-man kidnapping gang responsible for the recent abduction of the Sierra Leone’s Deputy High Commissioner in Nigeria, Major General Alfred Claude-Nelson, has said that the gang’s members embarked on kidnapping business in order to get easy cash to solve pressing individual problems.
Following the directive of the Acting Inspector-General of Police, IRT operatives on July 3 stormed Kaduna in a manhunt for the suspected kidnappers.
After seven days of intensive search, the team was able to round up all the suspected members of the gang, including the alleged gang leader, Alhaji Rabiu Yusuf, a 45-year-old native of Kafur Local Government Area of Katsina State; 27-year-old Garba Abubakar, a native of Danja Local Government Area, Katsina State; 20-year-old Yusuf Adam, an indigene of Kudan LGA, Kaduna State who functioned as the gang’s driver; Hussaini Musa (25), a native of Kwanar Dangora in Kano State and Shuaibu Idris, also a 35-year-old native of Kwanar Dangora in Kano State.
Others are Usman Bello (20), from Kafur LGA Katsina State; Muhammadu Abubakar (30) from Jaji, Kaduna State; Sulaiman Abubakar aka Dan Gaye (25); Musa Iliyasu (20) from Sabon Gayan in Kaduna State and Musa Ali (45), a security guard in Paki Area Development Council, Kano State, who was accused of harbouring the suspects in a government building for two days,.
The items the police operatives recovered were said to include three AK47 rifles with serial numbers LU3855, 406724 and AC03302; three loaded AK47 magazines containing a total of 90 rounds of ammunition and two sets of Nigeria Army camouflage uniforms were recovered from their armoury. A 28-year-old lady named Fatima Umar and identified as a girlfriend to one of the suspects, was also arrested and was said to be helping in the Investigation.
The suspects have confessed to the kidnapping of Sierra Leone’s Deputy High Commissioner in Nigeria; the Executive Director of Dangote Group, Engr. Mansur Ahmed; the Chairman of Code of Conduct Bureau and several other kidnappings along Abuja-Kaduna Expressway.
One of the suspects, Balarabe Mohammadu confessed to selling the Sierra Leone diplomat’s car in Niger Republic.
“My name is Balarabe Mohammedu. I am 20 years old and I transported the Sierra Leonean diplomat’s car to Niger Republic where I sold it immediately after the diplomat was abducted,” Mohammedu said.
He added that like other members of his gang, he was formerly into cattle rustling before he graduated into kidnapping. He said his main job in the gang was to drive any vehicle snatched from a victim to Niger Republic.
According to him, “we planned the operation that led to the kidnap of the envoy on June 30, 2016. We struck that night and luckily for us, the Ambassador (envoy) drove into our trap. The moment his car was snatched, I drove it away.
“I took it to my crosser, Abubakar, in Kasitina State, and I allowed him to go alone to Niger Republic with the vehicle. I got my share of the ransom, but I was waiting for Abubakar to bring in the proceeds from the vehicle before I was arrested.”
Another suspect, Gaba Abubakar, narrated how the gang planned and executed the kidnapping of the Deputy High Commissioner a few days to Sallah. He added that the sum of N1.5 million was paid as ransom before the envoy, Claud-Nlelson, regained freedom.
He said: “Some days before the last Sallah celebration I together with six of my friends decided to stage a kidnapping operation on the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway to raise money for the Sallah celebration.
“We had no. particular target in mind as we blocked the Dutse axis of the expressway. Some of us were in army uniform when we accosted the Ambassador and his driver around 8 pm of that day and they thought we were genuine soldiers until we abducted him.
“We didn’t know who he was until it was announced in the news that an ambassador had been kidnapped, and we demanded N30 million as ransom.
“He spent four days in our custody but was released after the sum of N1.5 million was paid. It was one Umaru who collected the ransom, but he declared only N1 million and I got N200, 000 as my share.
“That was the third operation I would do with the gang.
“Before I joined the kidnapping gang, I was into cattle rustling. I stopped when some of my colleagues were killed while attempting to steal some cattle in Kaduna State.
“I spent my own share of the loot during the Sallah. I also invited my girlfriend from Zaria and we spent part of the money together. In fact, she was with me at Paki Local Government Secretariat in Kaduna State when I was arrested.”
For Aliyu Tahir, the gang left him with no option but to quickly look for the ransom to rescue his friend from the den of the kidnappers. He recalled that the suspects called him in the morning of June 16, 2016, with the news of the abduction of his friend, Sule Umar, who they threatened to kill if he didn’t comply with their instruction.
“I begged them not to kill him, but the one on the phone rained abuses on me, I thanked him and he switched off the phone.
“After about one hour, he called again and said if I wanted my friend alive, I should bring N50 million for his bail. I told him that we could not even raise one per cent of their demand.
“I pleaded and we ended the negotiation at N500,000. I was instructed to take the money to Maraba area of Jos within 24 hours or my friend would be dead. They also instructed that I should leave the police out of it.
“After a while, I got another call from the kidnappers and I was told to go and pick my friend from Gidwa Takwas, which I did,
“But on July 13, 2016, I saw two of the kidnappers who collected the ransom from me in the newspaper. I called my friend and we both went to the Kaduna State Police Command and identified the kidnappers as those who robbed and kidnapped my friend.”
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