The Bauchi State Commissioner of Police, Auwal Muhammad, has said that the command’s operatives in collaboration with a hunters group have killed six suspected kidnappers during a gun battle in Ningi Local Government Area of the state.

He disclosed this while briefing journalists at the Ningi LGA Area Command, on Wednesday, saying some of the suspected kidnappers scampered in disarray and escaped with bullet wounds into the nearby bush.

Muhammad said their preliminary investigation revealed that the bandits had, within two weeks, invaded three villages around Ningi, including Bukutumbe, Iyayi, Kayadda, and Gamji village.

He said during the attack, they shot four people and killed one member of a vigilante group at Bukutumbe, and proceeded to Kiyawa LGA, Jigawa State where they kidnapped two wives of the Chairman Kiyawa LGA.

According to him, during the encounter with the bandits, two AK47 rifles, 55 live ammunition, four empty magazines, N4,580,000, one Golf three, seven new Airtel SIM cards, 190 pieces of recharge cards for both MTN and Aitel networks were recovered from the kidnappers’ den as exhibits.

“The unrelenting and aggressive counter-kidnapping strategies of the command in the fight against kidnapping and other heinous crimes have continued to yield positive results as the operatives of the command and other sister security agencies recorded yet another harvest of criminals and elements.

“During this organised courageous operation, the command was able to pull apart kidnappers/banditry syndicates due to the intense superior firepower by the police, in collaboration with quasi-security outfits (Ahmed Ali Kwara). So many kidnappers were neutralised while others scampered in disarray and escaped with bullet wounds into the nearby bush.

“If you may recall, sometime in July 2023, eight people were killed including the traditional ruler of Kada and Gamji village via Ningi LGA and bandits kidnapped other residents to unknown destinations.

“Consequently, the Command raised a team of detectives in conjunction with quasi-security outfits, (Ahmed Ali Kwara) and successfully engaged the kidnappers/bandits in a gun duel, on December 26, 2023, at about 4.03am, and neutralised six of the kidnappers which led to the recovery of two AK47 rifles, 55 live ammunition, four empty magazines. The sum of N4,580,000 was recovered from the kidnappers’ den as an exhibit, one Golf three, seven new Airtel SIM cards, three Tecno keypad phones, two itel keypad phones and one Bontel keypad phone. (The PUNCH)

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