11th June, 2023
Police have apprehended a wanted logistics supplier and informant for a kidnapping and banditry ring terrorising the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and its environs.
The suspect, Mohammed Hamza, a.k.a. Auta, was apprehended in the Mongoro Forest by the FCT Police Command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit.
SP Josephine Adeh, the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, announced this in a statement on Saturday night.
“The suspect, who has been on the command’s wanted list, is being held for his involvement in supplying firearms, ammunition, and other weapons, food items, and illicit drugs to the criminals in their various hideouts in the forests using a motorbike,” the statement added.
One AK-47 gun, AK-47 ammunition, one mobile phone, food and an unregistered boxer motorcycle were discovered from the suspect.
She stated that the command is stepping up its investigation to identify and disrupt the criminal supply chain, as well as arrest other gang members.
Similarly, the command detained 11 criminal suspects for a variety of offences, including illegal possession of firearms, illegal fabrication and production of small arms and light weapons, and armed robbery.
Daniel Williams, 51, Mohammed Yusuf, 41, Abdulrasheed Abdullahi, 26, and Aminu Mohammed, 41, were identified as the suspects. They were apprehended in the Zuba district of the FCT by State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) officers.
Four locally manufactured weapons and one live cartridge were recovered from the accused.
“Preliminary police investigations revealed that the gang was involved in fabricating and producing small and light weapons locally,” said the police spokesperson.
On June 7, officers from the Utako Divisional Police Headquarters apprehended eight alleged armed robbers in Utako’s Amala Garden.
Three firearms of various calibres, knives, and hard narcotics were recovered from them upon arrest.
Sani Ibrahim, 41, is from Gere LGA in Borno State; Yusuf Ilyasu, alias Tablet, is an ex-convict from Plateau State; Awala Lawal, 22, is an escapee from Kuje jail in Kano State; and Hassan Daudo, 34, is from Borno State.