Operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team have arrested two members of a kidnap gang operating in Kaduna State.
The suspects, Abdulmimini Adamu and Usman Abdulahi, were said to have been involved in the kidnapping of four expatriates – two Americans and two Canadians – and killing of two policemen on their escort.
City Round learnt that the ringleader, identified simply as Dogo, and three other members of the gang, were fatally wounded in a gun duel with the police detectives at their hideout in Kuire forest, near Kagarko Local Government Area of the state.
It was gathered that Adamu and Abdullahi, who escaped during the exchange of gunfire, were tracked down to their hideouts in Kano and Kaduna states respectively.
In his statement, 20-year-old Adamu, a native of Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State and father of one, confessed to have participated in the crime.
Adamu, a herder and farmer, explained that they demanded N100m ransom to release the expatriates, but he did not know the sum eventually paid to the gang leader.
Adamu said he got N5m share from the ransom, adding that he invested his proceeds in cattle rearing.
He said, “My boss, Dogo, got me involved in kidnapping. In my first operation, we killed two policemen and took away their rifles. We kidnapped four white people, two of them were Americans, but I don’t know the nationality of the other two. We went for that operation last year along Jere Road at the Southern Kaduna area of the State. An informant gave us the job.
“We were nine that took part in the attack. Five of us were armed with AK-47 rifles, while four others were holding sticks. I was holding a stick, while the people who had guns were in front. When the vehicle conveying the expatriates got to where we were, those with guns started firing and forced the vehicle to stop.
“They killed the two policemen escorting those expatriates. We took the white men to our camp in Kuire. They spent three days with us in the camp and we fed them with rice and beans. They ate three times daily and we gave them table water to drink. We treated them well because they are white people.
“One of us who understands English contacted the people that paid the ransom. I got N5m as my share after the ransom was paid and bought some cows with it. They are with my brother in the village.”
Adamu, who was arrested at his friend’s house in Kano, said he travelled to Kano unknown to him that the police were on his trail.
In his account, Abdullahi, 26, who is married to two wives, said his role in the gang was to provide food for their victims.
He said he was given N1m share from the ransom collected by the gang.
He said, “I am from Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna. I am a farmer and I also rear cattle. I am not a kidnapper but I supply food items to the kidnappers in their camp. When they kidnapped the white people, I supplied food items to them.
“They didn’t allow me to see the white people. They stopped me at a distance and collected the food items I took there. It was one Abdul that contacted me to supply food to the kidnappers and he is the only member of the gang that knows me. He gave me N1m as my share.”