Suspected kidnapper arrested in Kaduna as DPO rejects N1m bribe to compromise case

Operatives attached to Police Divisional Headquarters Tafa, Kaduna state have arrested a suspected kidnapper and recovered his share of a ransom paid to him. A statement released by the spokesperson of the command today January 25, ASP Masir Hassan, says on the 19th January, 2024 at about 2200 hours, the said Divisional Headquarters received credible information regarding the presence of a suspicious person in Easyway hotel in Tafa town. 

‘’Operatives led by the Divisional Police Officer stormed the hotel and arrested a certain 28 years old Bello Muhammad from Zamfara State and recovered the sum of two million, three hundred and fifty thousand naira (N2,350,000:00) suspected to be proceeds of kidnapping.

During the course of the investigation, the suspect admitted to being a kidnapper who operates with his gang around Kagarko forest in Kaduna. The aforementioned sum is his own share of a ransom collected. Moreover, a check of 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 million naira backhander to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) to stop him from furthering the investigation which the Police Officer forthwith rejected. The investigation is still ongoing as the suspect is assisting the Police with vital information.” the statement read

The police spokesperson added that the state Commissioner of Police, CP  A.D Ali, while praising the Tafa Division’s Operatives, urged them and others not to dwindle but to increase the tempo until crimes and criminality are reduced minimally. Equally, the CP tasked hoteliers, and recreation and leisure service operators in the State to always scrutinize the identity of their customers to avoid providing criminals with safe haven.