The Bauchi State Police Command has paraded 33 suspects for various crimes including kidnapping, armed robbery, murder, across the state during several raids.

Similarly, the command has uncovered trick used by criminals to defraud innocent citizens at ATM points in the state.

The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Kamal Abubakar Datti, a Deputy Superintendent of Police disclosed this while parading the suspects before newsmen at the Command’s headquarters in Bauchi on Saturday.

According to the PPRO, the Command, following an intelligence report on the activities of a notorious robbery syndicate that has been terrorising innocent members of the public, on 22 January, at about 12:00pm, a combined team of Federal Special Anti-robbery Squad and Anti-kidnapping unit of the Command traced and arrested the suspects in their hideout while planning to attack some strategic locations in Bauchi metropolis.

Datti, who said investigation revealed that the syndicate operates in Bauchi, Plateau, Gombe and Nasarawa States and also FCT Abuja, added that they are also responsible for the following robbery cases in the state:

His words: “On 22 January, 2018 at about 2am, the syndicate stormed Yuguda Village, robbed one Maigyalla Mohammed (30) male, and Jafaru Abdullahi (20) male, of their Bajaj Motorcycles. They also robbed one Munkaila Tanko male of the cash sum of N30,000:00, thereafter shot him to death.

The PPRO further explained that “The two robbed Motorcycles were recovered by the Command Operatives and will soon be handed over to their rightful owners.

“On 13th January, 2018 at about 10pm, the syndicate attempted to rob one Sadiq Ahmed Iliya (35) male, of Isa Yuguda Guest House Bauchi, of his Honda Motor Vehicle in the process they shot and injured a security guard in the area and thereafter escaped to unknown destination.”

He added that “On 11/11/2017 the syndicate blocked Durum – Yuga road shot and injured passengers on the route and also robbed them of two (2) Bajaj Motorcycles.

“On 24th October, 2017 the syndicate stormed Bidolo Village, Bauchi LGA, robbed one Abubakar Abdullahi (34) male, of the cash sum of N600,000 and shot his wife one Furaira Abdullahi to death. They equally robbed one Abubakar Adamu (40), male of the same address of his Bajaj Motorcycle valued at N141,000.”

According to the PPRO, the suspects arrested include: Ahmed Mohammed (52), male – master gang leader; Ibrahim Abdullahi (28) – gang leader; Shu’aibu Adamu (52), male – gang informant; Sani Ibrahim (47) – chief planner; Yakubu Musa (42) – the gang organiser; Musa Isa (44) – receiver; Zakariya’u Mohammed (24) – member; Salisu Mohammed (25) – member and Bala Ahmadu (30) – Driver of the gang.

He said the exhibits recovered from them “are one AK 49 Rifle with breach number 10553, one AK47 Rifle, two AK47 magazine, one fabricated Pistol, 64 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition, two live cartridges, one Toyota Carina II Motor Vehicle with reg. No. AG 656 FGE, one Vectra motor vehicle with reg. no. JJN 869 SN, two Bajaj motorcycles one with reg. no. QB 351 NNG, one Haujue motorcycle unregistered, Master Key, seven GSM Phones, two cutlasses, bunch of keys and two face masks.”

During interrogation, he said, all the suspects freely confessed to the crimes and are cooperating with the Police in the investigation after which they will be charged to court as soon as possible.

The Police Spokesman informed newsmen that on 11th January, 2018 at about 9am, one Isiaka Boderi, male, of Gasu village in Tafawa Balewa LGA, reported to the Police that on the same date at about 1am, five gunmen stormed his residence and stabbed him on his head as a result he sustained serious injury and thereafter robbed him of the cash sum of N5,000:00 and also kidnapped his two wives namely: Hajara Isiaka, female (20) and Asmau Isiaka, female (16).

He said the hoodlums then demanded a ransom of N500,000 for their release.

“On receipt of the report, the team of Anti-Kidnapping Unit (AKU) of the Command swung in to action, traced and rescued the hostages at Gasol Forest Tafawa Balewa LGA,” he said.

He said the suspects arrested are Ibrahim Yau, male, (19), Sani Abubakar, male (19) and Basiru Abubakar, male, (16) adding that during interview, the victims informed the Police that while they were under kidnappers’ custody the suspects raped them several times.

Exhibits recovered from the suspects, Datti stated, are one Dane gun, 10 cows suspected to be rustled and one Itel GSM Phone used for the ransom negotiation.

He said all suspects freely confessed to the crime and are cooperating with Police in the investigation, after which they will be charged to court for prosecution.

Datti also informed newsmen that following an incident reported at Toro Police Station, that on 28th December, 2017 at about 11:40pm, unknown gunmen stormed the residence of one Sulaiman Yunusa, male, (40), of Magama Gumau Village, Toro LGA, Bauchi State, with intent to rob.

“In the process, they stabbed and shot him, as a result he sustained serious injuries where he was rushed to General Hospital Toro and later referred to ATBU Teaching Hospital Bauchi but died on 30th December, 2017 while receiving treatment.

“Discreet investigation by the Police attached to Toro Police Station led to the arrest of two suspects: Abubakar Sadiq Mohammed, male, (20) and Yahaya Mohammed, male, (18), all of Ladduga village, Toro LGA,” he stated.

He said the two suspects confessed to have conspired among themselves and one Ahmadu Ngari a commercial Motorcycle rider and trustee of the late victim now at large to commit the crime.

He said exhibits recovered include: Two locally made revolver Riffles capable of expending AK47 ammunition, Eight live AK47 ammunition, Five empty shells of AK47 Riffle recovered at the scene of crime and One red cap.

According to the PPRO, following a complaint from one Captain Datti Adamu, male, of Nigeria Military School Jaji that on 11th November, 2017, unknown person hacked his Facebook account and keeps demanding money from his family and friends in the process he collects the total sum of N500,000 through bank deposits from one Blessing Rabo (26), of Yelwa Ward Bauchi and other victims.

On receipt of the complaint, Operatives attached to Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department of the Command swung in to action traced and arrested one Abdulsalam Adamu, male (25), of Magaji quarters Bauchi in connection with crime. The suspect voluntary confessed to the crime.

He said the Exhibit recovered was one Tecno L9 Handset used in committing the crime.

Similarly, Abubakar stated: “On 20/01/2018 at about 2030hrs a combined team of Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS)/Anti-Kidnapping Unit (AKU) of the Command raided a suspected Sara-Suka hideout terrorising innocent members of the public at Bayan Gari, Yelwa and Jarmari Hotel areas of Bauchi and arrested the following suspects: Muhammad Sani, male, (21); Adamu Inuwa, male, (23); Adamu Hassan, male, (20); Rabiu Balarabe, male (20); Yusuf Danladi, male, (23); Ibrahim Musa, male, (25), all of Bauchi metropolis.”

The exhibits recovered from them, according to him, are ten sharp cutlasses, one long Knife, 12 bottles of Codeine Syrup, Eight sachets of Tramadol Capsules, Two kilogrammes of dry leaves suspected to be Indian Hemp.

The Command’s spokesman further said following an intelligence report received by the Command that on 12th January, 2018, the notorious Babeli Group had concluded plans to attack one Ahmadu Alhaji Ardo, male, (27) and his entire family at Fulu village of Toro LGA of Bauchi State.

He said: “A Police team proactively moved to the area and at about 2.30pm, the group in their large number surfaced and on sighting the Police team they engaged them in a shootout. The Police team successfully overpowered the group and arrested the following suspects: Saidu Saleh, male, (29); Ibrahim Musa, male, (32); Salisu Isa, male, (25); Yusuf Mohammad, male, (28); Yusuf Shehu, male, (23); Idris Mohammad, male, (23); Abdullahi Abdul, male, (30); Mohammad Manu, male, (25); Buba Manu, male, (30); Hussaini Manu, male, (40), all of Gala Village of Ganjuwa LGA of Bauchi.”

He said some of the exhibits recovered from them include: Two single barrel guns, Nine Dane guns, Ten cartridges, One kilogramme of gunpowder, Seven cutlasses, Two Knives and criminal charms.

Meanwhile, the Bauchi Police Command has uncovered trick used by criminals to defraud innocent citizens at ATM points in the state.

The command said as part of effort to checkmate cases of fraud at ATM points in the state, it has through its operatives from the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) arrested one Abdullahi Buhari, 27 years, of Zoo Road, Kano, at Union Bank ATM point while attempting to defraud one Dauda Habila 36 years, of Yelwan Makaranta, Bauchi, under the pretense of assisting him.

According to a press statement from the command, the suspect and his accomplice, one Umar now at large specialised in tricking bank customers while trying to withdraw money from ATM by pretending to be assisting them on how to make the withdrawal effectively.

The statement signed by the PPRO, DSP Kamal Datti Abubakar, contained that in the process they will then swap the customer’s ATM card with another one of the same bank and also memorise his PIN number, thereafter escape with his ATM card immediately to another ATM point and withdraw money from his account.

Exhibits recovered from the suspect include: 20 pieces of ATM cards of different banks, two National Identity Card belonging to one Bashir Bala and two MTN SIM certificates.

The PPRO then stated that the suspect would be charged to court after completion of investigation as soon as possible.

According to him, “Finally the command is advising the general public especially bank customers not to trust any unknown person to them that may attempt to assist them at ATM points, and in a case for any difficulty they should contact the bank staff members for assistance”. (THISDAY)

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