10 Kidnapped Victims Rescued, Arrest Notorious Criminal

By Olusegun Ajileye

No less than 10 people have been rescued from a foiled attempted abduction by suspected bandits along the Funtua-Gusau highway.

The Nigeria Police Force who made this known on Sunday said the victims were rescued by men of the police force from the Faskari Division of the Katsina State Police Command who engaged the kidnappers in a gun duel, causing the criminals to flee with bullet wounds.

The Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, who disclosed this in a statement, said, one Umar Ahmad, 40, a notorious criminal who had been wanted by the agency for several months, was apprehended at a roadblock in Jalingo on April 18, 2025, by men attached to the State Intelligence Department (SID), Taraba State, in collaboration with local vigilante.

According to the statement, further investigation led to the recovery of two AK-47s, one of which belongs to the state command.

The Force also said that police officers attached to Fegge Divisional Headquarters, Anambra State, on April 17, 2025, while on patrol along Port Harcourt Road, Upper Iweka, Onitsha, intercepted a shuttle bus parked suspiciously along the road.

The statement explained that upon conducting a thorough search of the bus, five pump-action guns, eight live cartridges, and two handcuffs were found concealed in a bag of rice.

It said while the recovered bus had been subjected to forensic examination, effort was being intensified to locate the culprits.

Adejobi noted that the recent achievements were a demonstration of the Force’s commitment to improved internal security through a series of successful operations resulting in the significant rescue of kidnap victims, arrests and recoveries of illegal arms.