Barely one week after the Nigeria Police Force arrested Chukwudumeje Onwuamadike, aka Evans, one of the country’s most daring kidnappers, the Kaduna State internal security outfit recorded another breakthrough with the arrest of six notorious kidnappers that operated along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway.

Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, made the announcement on Sunday evening via his Twitter handle.

He said the kidnappers were arrested on Thursday and Friday by members of the state security outfit in collaboration with the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Teams (IRT) and with the support from the Technical Intelligence Unit (TIU).

“The arrest of the kidnappers is sequel to the massive deployment of more police assets and patrol vehicles in the area in the last one week,” el-Rufai said.

“These efforts led to the arrest of the suspects, including the leader of the gang, Adamu Mamman, a 35-year-old of Amana village in Igabi LGA; Ali Rabo, also known as Blakky, of Liman Ibada village in Chikun LGA and Awwalu Ahmed, aka Mota, of Rijana village in Kachia LGA who is the main informant of the gang.”

Others arrested are Shehu Idris Shagari and Umar Antijo, both 27 years old, as well as Babangida Abdullahi “who is the receiver of stolen cattle, phones and laptops”.

The suspects were picked up at various locations in Kaduna State, and they have all confessed to having taken part in several kidnappings along the Kaduna-Abuja highway.

El-Rufai added that the suspects, and the weapons recovered from them, have been handed over to the Criminal Investigating Department (CID) of the Kaduna State police command for further investigation.