A suspected kidnapper who allegedly attempted to bribe a Divisional Police Officer( DPO) with N1 million to compromise the case has been arrested by police operatives in Kaduna State.
According to the spokesperson of the Kaduna Police Command, ASP Mamsir Hassan, “following the directives of the Commissioner of Police Kaduna State Command, CP A.D. Ali, psc, to personnel to be proactive in their operation using intelligence-based policing approach, operatives attached to Police Divisional Headquarters Tafa, Kaduna, have arrested a suspected kidnapper and recovered a shared ransom.”
“On January 19, 2024, at about 2200 hours, the said Divisional Headquarters received credible information regarding the presence of a suspicious person in the Easyway hotel in Tafa town. Operatives led by the Divisional Police Officer stormed the hotel and arrested a certain 28-year-old Bello Muhammad from Zamfara State and recovered the sum of two million, three hundred and fifty thousand naira (N2,350,000.00) suspected to be proceeds of kidnapping.”
“During the course of investigation, the suspect admitted to being a kidnapper who operates with his gang around Kagarko Forest in Kaduna. The aforementioned sum is his own share of the ransom collected. Moreover, a check of his mobile phone corroborated the suspect’s confession, as pictures of him brandishing an AK47 rifle in a forest were retrieved.
“The said suspect, Bello Muhammad, thus offered a million-naira backhander to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) to stop him furthering the investigation, which the police officer forthwith rejected. Investigation is still ongoing as the suspect is assisting the police with vital information.”
“The Commissioner of Police Kaduna State Command, CP A.D. Ali, while praising the Tafa Division’s Operatives, urged them and others not to dwindle but to increase the tempo until crimes and criminality are reduced minimally. Equally, the CP tasked hoteliers, recreation, and leisure service operators in the state to always scrutinise the identity of their customers to avoid providing criminals with safe haven,” the spokesperson added.
