The operatives of the Kaduna State Police Command have arrested a suspected kidnapper, Bello Muhammad, who offered a N1 million bribe to them to compromise the investigation.

The command’s spokesman, ASP Mansir Hassan, disclosed the arrest in a statement issued on Thursday, January 25, 2024.

Hassan said the arrest was sequel to the directive of the Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Audu Ali, to the personnel to be proactive in their operation using an intelligence-based policing approach.

He said the police operatives attached to Police Divisional Headquarters in Tafa arrested the suspected kidnapper and recovered a shared ransom.

The police spokesperson disclosed that the Divisional Headquarters, on January 19, received credible information regarding the presence of a suspicious person in Easyway Hotel in Tafa town.

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“Operatives led by the Divisional Police Officer stormed the hotel and arrested a certain 28-year-old Bello Muhammad from Zamfara State and recovered N2.3 million suspected to be proceeds of kidnapping,” Hassan added.

He noted that Muhammad, during an investigation, admitted to being a kidnapper who operated with his gang around Kagarko forest in Kaduna.

“The aforementioned sum is his own share of a ransom collected,” he said.

The police spokesman stated that a check of Muhammad’s mobile phone corroborated the suspect’s confession as pictures of him brandishing an AK47 rifle in a forest were retrieved.

“The said suspect Muhammad offered a million naira backhander to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) to stop him furthering the investigation which the police officer forthwith rejected,” Hassan added.

He said an investigation was still ongoing as the suspect was assisting the police with vital information.

Hassan further quoted the police commissioner as commending the Tafa Division’s operatives, urging them and others not to relent but to increase the tempo until crimes and criminality were reduced minimally.

Ali tasked hoteliers, recreation, and leisure service operators in Kaduna State to always scrutinise the identities of their customers to avoid providing criminals with safe haven.

The Star