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

A suspected kidnapper has been apprehended by agents from Police Divisional Headquarters Tafa in Kaduna state, and they have also retrieved his portion of the ransom that was paid to him.

According to a statement issued by the command spokeswoman today, January 25, ASP Masir Hassan, the stated Divisional Headquarters got credible information on January 19, 2024, at approximately 2200 hours, indicating the presence of a suspicious person in the Easyway hotel in Tafa town.

The statement reads:

‘’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.”