THE Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has arrested four suspected kidnappers in Sauka community, near the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport and the University of Abuja.
The ICIR reports that the arrest was the second the police had made in the sprawling community in less than nine months, as the city continues to grapple with a kidnapping epidemic.
On January 21, this organisation reported how the police rescued a kidnapped victim and captured one kidnapper alive in the village.
Insecurity has persisted in the nation’s capital following the activities of kidnappers, robbers, and other criminals.
But the police and sister security institutions have increasingly clamped down on the marauders.
The anti-kidnapping unit of the FCT Police Command on October 3, 2024, said acting on credible intelligence, it trailed and arrested the ‘notorious’ kidnappers who have been terrorising the nation’s capital.
According to a statement by the command’s spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, on Thursday, October 3, the four suspects are Yau Sani, a.k.a. Baba (an ex-convict), Nuhu, a.k.a. Giwa, Kabiru Mohammed, and Yusuf Hassan.
“The suspects confessed to being responsible for a series of kidnappings of unsuspecting residents in FCT and its environs, the killing of seven victims in the process.
“This gang have attacked Dakwa, Dawaki, Aco estate, Dupe Village Zuma rock, Kuchiko village and some villages in Niger and Kaduna. They also led Police operatives to another hideout in Gauraka Forest, Suleja, Niger State, where they dug out four (4) AK-47 rifles, thirteen (13) AK-47 magazines, one hundred and sixty-two (162) rounds of 7.6 mm live ammunition,” the police stated.
The command added that the suspects said they were planning to attack some government institutions and estates within the FCT.
It reiterated its commitment to stamping out crime and criminality within the FCT and urged members of the public to report any suspicious or unusual activities to the police.
What to know about Sauka community
Sauka, meaning ‘alight’ (such as from a vehicle) in the Hausa language, shares a border with the University of Abuja. It faces the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS). It also has a police barrack and military estate facing it along the Kuje Road.
It is seven kilometres from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
Many NSCDC and NIS officers live in the community.
Its road connects to the Gui and Gbesa communities.
A reporter with the ICIR
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