Police parade 13 suspects for kidnapping, cable, motorcycle theft in Kwara
By Mosunmola Ayobami, Ilorin
The Kwara State Police Command has paraded some suspected kidnappers tormenting Ijara-Isin and Isanlu-Isin axis of Kwara south.
The suspects are Haruna Nuhu (28), Umar Shehu (25), Maazu Masaje (35), Sanni Masaje 21, Mohammed Usman (20) and Babu Okeode.
Briefing newsmen on Tuesday, the state Commissioner of Police, Rotimi Adelesi said on Thursday, July 13, 2023, one Abubakar Haruna AKA Muslim and one Kayode Musa were driving from Oke-Onigbin to Isanlu-Isin in a Toyota Camry, when a group of armed men suspected to be Bororo Fulani abducted them and disappeared into the bush.
She noted that while efforts to rescue the victims were in progress, on 21 July, at about 6.30 pm, a team of police officers, local vigilantes, and hunters already on search of the victims were met with hails of gunshots.
In a bid to escape being captured, the suspects shot and killed their two victims and escaped into the bush, some of them with bullet injuries, while Ajide Abiodun Olaoluwa one of the victims was rescued alive.
She disclosed that in furtherance of the effort by the police to get the kidnappers arrested, the police, hunters and vigilante stormed the forests between Ijara-Isin and Isanlu-Isin where intelligence revealed that the kidnappers were hiding and got the above suspects arrested with their weapons.
“Similarly, on 19 July, at about noon, a case was transferred from Budo-Nuhu Police Station to the State CID, Ilorin for discreet investigation to the effect that, on 17/07/2023 at about 2100hrs, one Bello Musbau of Solid Worth Hotel, off Asa-Dam Road, that on 16/07/2023 at 1900hrs, one of their customers, one Wasiu Abdulsalami of No.19, Magaji Street, reported that his motorcycle was stolen from the hotel premises.
“Investigation using the hotel’s CCTV footage revealed one Usma Abdulkadri who was arrested and confessed commiting the crime.
Investigation led to the arrest of one Ibrahim Saheed, a staff of Kwara State Traffic Management Agency (KWATMA), a receiver of the stolen motorcycle. The motorcycle has however been recovered. The suspects would soon be charged in court,” she said.
The command also paraded one Awokunle Gideon (23), Yahusa Bashir (22), Nuhu Alli (20) and Aliyu Ibraheem (20), for theft of bundles of cable along Tanke Area, Ilorin.
“On July 24, 2023, at around 0430hrs, the Anti-Kidnapping Squad got an intelligence that a man was transporting bundles of cable wires along Tanke Area Ilorin. A team of police was dispatched to the scene, and one Awokunle Gideon was arrested with bunches of stolen NEPA cables.
“Investigation led to the arrest of his receivers.
The suspects would be arraigned in court at completion of investigation,” the commissioner added.
Items recovered from the suspects included five cutlasses, different phones, one locally made iron pistol with live ammunition, and one expanded ammunition of a revolver pistol.
