Operatives of the Police Force Intelligence Department’s Special Tactical Squad (FID STS) have arrested two suspected members of a kidnapping syndicate accused of killing their victims even after receiving ransom payments.
Speaking in an interview with Arise TV, ACP Victor Ogbeide, Commander of the FID STS, said the gang murdered all their hostages after their suspected leader, Buhari Adamu, accidentally shot himself in the leg with an AK-47. Believing he had died from the injury, the gang reacted by killing the captives and dumping their bodies in a nearby stream.
“We found out that one of the suspects who is presumed to be their leader had sustained a gunshot injury to his leg. Prior to that, he had injured himself when he accidentally shot himself with his AK-47. They thought he had died from the injury. And with that realization, they angrily killed all their victims and threw their bodies into a nearby stream,” Ogbeide said.
The arrests led officers to the gang’s hideout in the rocky hills of Bagalapi, where victims had been held. Police recovered an AK-47 rifle, 22 rounds of live ammunition, 14 cows, and three sheep believed to be proceeds of the syndicate’s criminal activities. Authorities said efforts to dismantle interstate kidnapping networks will continue.
