The Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, Ahmed Muhammed Sanusi, disclosed this during a press briefing at the command headquarters in Abuja on Monday, where he highlighted recent operational successes recorded by the police in the fight against crime.
According to the police commissioner, the arrest of the suspects followed a follow-up operation conducted on June 11 in the Paze-Byazhin area after an anti-kidnapping and rescue mission carried out on June 9.
The operation led to the arrest of Yahaya Abdullahi, Muhammed Yunusa, Hauwa Shafiu and Shamsudeen Mustapha at a hideout allegedly used by criminal elements involved in kidnapping and banditry activities.
Sanusi said preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects were members of a network that had integrated into local communities to gather intelligence and facilitate attacks on targeted individuals and locations.
He said one of the suspects, Hauwa Shafiu, allegedly served as a logistics supplier and cook for the criminal gang and its hostages. The commissioner disclosed that she was heavily pregnant at the time of her arrest and later gave birth to a healthy baby while in police custody, adding that both mother and child received appropriate medical care.
Items recovered from the suspects included four motorcycles, 41 tablets of tramadol of different strengths, N320,000 cash, five mobile phones, a Point-of-Sale machine and cooking utensils.
In another development, the command rescued a 36-year-old woman, Grace Aniekuoku, who was allegedly chained and locked inside a room by her brother, Chinedu Aniekuoku, for over one year and four months.
Sanusi said the police received a distress report on June 12 indicating that the victim, an indigene of Anambra State, had been unlawfully confined by her brother.
Following the report, detectives from the Katampe Division were deployed to the location. Upon arrival, the suspect allegedly resisted the officers and denied them access to the premises.
The police commissioner said the officers eventually gained entry and found the victim in chains, severely emaciated and living under extremely poor sanitary conditions.
The suspect was immediately arrested, while the victim was rescued and taken to hospital for medical treatment.
Further investigations, according to the police, revealed that the victim’s son had allegedly been taken away to an unknown destination about two years ago. Investigators suspect that the prolonged confinement was intended to prevent her from questioning the whereabouts of her child.
Sanusi said efforts were ongoing to locate and rescue the missing boy, while the suspect would be charged to court after the conclusion of investigations.
The commissioner commended residents of the FCT for providing useful information that aided the operations and urged members of the public to continue supporting law enforcement agencies with timely and credible intelligence.
He stressed that security remains a collective responsibility and assured residents of the command’s commitment to safeguarding lives and property across the Federal Capital Territory.