An informant to bandits, Ado Haruna, who set the criminals against his nephew, Alhaji Bashiru Anas, and his family for abduction, has told of how he got only N200,000 from the N13 million collected as ransom.

The suspect, arrested by the operatives of Intelligence Response Team (IRT), was among others recently paraded by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, in Abuja.

Haruna, of Angwan Kanawa Dutse Abba, Zaria, Kaduna State, was reported to have taken Shago Yaro, Tanimu Ayuba and Lamido Dantajiri, close to the house of his nephew, Alhaji Anas, and suggested him and his family members as a good catch for kidnapping that would yield a lot of money.

On the day they struck, the bandits invaded the Alhaji Anas?s residence at about 1 a.m., met his absence and went away with his two wives and three children, as well as his younger brother and his wife.

Nigerian Tribune further gathered that the captives were taken to Buruku Sabo Birni and held hostage for 60 days. A total sum of N13 million, four new motorcycles and N300,000 Airtel recharge cards were given to the bandits as ransom before the victims regained freedom. Surprisingly, Haruna got only N200,000 as his share from the ransom.

Also paraded was Nyali Hassan, a kidnapper, arrested with an AK-47 rifle. Nigerian Tribune learnt that prior to his arrest, IRT operatives received a credible information about some criminal elements who specialised in kidnapping and banditry within Makarfi, Bari, Yankin Rago and Beli towns in Kano and Kaduna states respectively.

In a follow-up on the information, Hassan, resident in StaraRago, Kano, was arrested, while an AK-47 rifle with breech number 6047 and two empty magazines were recovered from him.

During interrogation, Hassan reportedly confessed to being a kidnapper. He mentioned Kawuje, Moude, Babagida, Kabiru and Umar as his gang members, saying that two other AK-47 rifles and ammunition that were being used for operations were with Umar who was still at large.

The FPRO said that the IRT operatives were making efforts to get the other suspects arrested and recover the arms and ammunition still with them.

In an interview, Haruna, aged 50, told the Nigerian Tribune: ?I?m into farming and vigilante work. It is true that I was the one who took bandits to Alhaji Anas?s house. Anas is my nephew; my elder sister?s son. I knew only one of the bandits who asked me to show them my nephew?s house.

?I led the bandits to his house but didn?t let him see me. We were living in the same community. They did not see Anas, so they took his wife and children. For the 60 days his family was in the bush, I was using Alhaji Anas?s phone to communicate with the bandits.

?The bandits were paid over N10 million as ransom, as I was made to know, but I was given N200,000 as my share. I bought maize with the money given to me.?

How I was picked

?I didn?t know how the police got information about my involvement. I just saw them at my home. Life pushed me into crime.?

In his own confession, Hassan from Kano State, stated: ?I?m 35 years old. I have two wives and 10 children. I?m into farming and cattle rearing, but added kidnapping to it. I was carrying out the operations in Kano. I started a year ago. I have kidnapped eight people but got money from five of them. I collected between N1 million and N10 million as ransom. Some of the victims escaped while those guarding them slept off. I was targeting the rich people. We were six in my gang and had three AK-47 rifles. One of my members, Umar, got the rifles. I was arrested with an AK-47 rifle.?

How we got victims

?We usually carried out our operations by laying ambush for victims on the road or visit their homes. We never killed any of our potential victims.?

How I was caught

"I was in my house when police operatives came to me in the early hours of the day to pick me up. I know that Qur?an does not support crime, but I?ll say that my friends misled me. They would be spending so much money whenever we were at a gathering, so I decided to join them.

?I bought a pickup van from my share of the proceeds. I had 20 cows that I inherited from my father.

?My friend, Umar, who is also one of the gang members, taught me how to shoot with AK-47 rifle.? (Nigerian Tribune, excluding headline)

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