Kaduna state police command has arrested a bandit who offered to bribe the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) with the sum of N1 million.
The Police Command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Mansir Hassan, disclosed that the suspect has admitted to being part of a kidnapping gang operating in various parts of Kaduna state.
A photograph retrieved from the suspect’s phone depicts him wielding an AK47 rifle in the forest.
He explained that their Operatives led by the Divisional Police Officer stormed the hotel and arrested a certain 28-year-old Bello Muhammad from Zamfara State and recovered the sum of N2,350,000:00, suspected to be proceeds of kidnapping.
He said during the course of the investigation, the suspect admitted to being a kidnapper who operates with his gang around Kagarko forest in Kaduna.
Mansir said the N1 million is the suspect’s own share of a ransom collected, adding that 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 statement reads: “On January 19, 2024, at about 2200 hours, the said Divisional Headquarters received credible information regarding the presence of a suspicious person in the Easyway hotel in Tafa town.
Operatives led by the Divisional Police Officer stormed the hotel and arrested a certain 28-year-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 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 the 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 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, 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.”
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 safe have.
