By Sarah NEGEDU
The FCT Police Command has recovered the N8.25 million ransom paid for the release of a kidnap victim after dismantling a six-member “one chance” kidnapping and armed robbery syndicate operating in Abuja and neighbouring Niger State.
The victim, police said, was rescued following an intelligence-led operation, while six members of the gang were arrested and two vehicles allegedly used for their operations, along with other exhibits, were recovered.
The Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, CP Ahmed Sanusi, disclosed this while briefing journalists at the command headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to the police commissioner, the operation followed a distress call received on June 29 over the suspected abduction of a young woman in Maitama.
“Unknown to the suspects, we were already hot on their trail,” Sanusi said.
“Our digital tracking revealed that they had taken the victim out of the FCT and kept her in Kwan-kwashe Village, a remote settlement in Niger State.”
He said the kidnappers initially demanded a N20 million ransom before the victim’s family eventually paid N8.25 million for her release on July 3. However, police operatives continued tracking the suspects and arrested all six members of the syndicate two days later in Suleja, Niger State.
Sanusi said the police recovered the entire N8.25 million ransom, two operational vehicles, a cutlass, mobile phones, jewellery suspected to belong to previous victims, EarPods and a laptop.
Investigations, according to him, revealed that the alleged gang leader, Ifeoma Nnamchi, and another suspect, Olanipekun Anuoluwa, were repeat offenders who had previously been arrested by the FCT Police Command in 2022 and 2019 respectively for similar offences.
“Despite her previous arrest, both suspects returned to constitute this syndicate, which has been operating along Kubwa Expressway, Maitama Federal Housing Road and other locations within the FCT since 2024,” he said.
The commissioner further disclosed that members of the syndicate admitted carrying out several “one chance” operations and, in their most recent attacks, kidnapped and robbed five female victims, collecting a total of N12.8 million in ransom.
The commissioner identified the suspects as Ifeoma Nnamchi, 35, alleged to be the gang leader; Peter Rasheed Onwunumah, 40; Olanipekun Anuoluwa, 46; Jemimah Monday, 25; Gabriel Nnamchi, 14; and Stanley Nnamchi, 17, all said to be residents of Niger State.
He also disclosed that the command arrested four suspected kidnappers and suppliers of ammunition and illicit drugs to bandits during clearance operations in border communities around Kwali, Abaji and Kuje Area Councils.
Sanusi alleged that one of the suspects, Misbahu Isa, is an arms dealer who supplied ammunition to kidnappers and bandits operating across Niger, Kaduna and Kogi states.
According to him, investigations showed that the suspect recently supplied more than 20,000 rounds of live ammunition to wanted bandits and kidnappers in exchange for N3 million.
Police also recovered 42 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition concealed inside a vehicle allegedly used by the suspect as a commercial car, alongside codeine syrup, suspected cannabis, tramadol, a loaded magazine, cash and other exhibits.
The CP identified the suspects as Bello Abdullahi, Shuaibu Iliya, Idris Abubakar and Misbahu Isa, alleging that investigations linked them to kidnapping activities and the supply of ammunition and illicit substances to criminal groups operating around the FCT and neighbouring states.
In a separate operation, Sanusi said police raided identified criminal black spots across the FCT, leading to the arrest of 560 suspects and the recovery of illicit drugs, arms and ammunition.
The commissioner said suspects arrested in the various operations would be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations.
“The FCT Police Command will not rest on its oars until these criminal elements are flushed out of the Federal Capital Territory,” he said.
He urged residents to continue providing timely information that would assist security agencies in combating crime and protecting lives and property across the territory.
