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Tag: Gombe State Police Command

  • Gombe police arrest child trafficking kingpin, return unclaimed children to Anambra

    Gombe police arrest child trafficking kingpin, return unclaimed children to Anambra

    Eleven unclaimed children suspected to have been stolen by one Madam Hauwa Usman on the 20th October, 2019 in Gombe State and brought to her accomplice in Anambra state to sell them have been recieved by the Anambra state police command.

    This was contained in a statement released by the Anambra state police command spokesperson, Haruna Mohammed

    The PPRO stated in October 2019, men of the state police command arrested three female suspects at Nkpor Market/Tarzan Junction in Idemili North LGA of Anambra State, with three children suspected to have been stolen.

    Investigations revealed that the children were stolen from Gombe State by one Hauwa Usman on October 19 2019 and brought to her accomplices in Anambra State.

    Haruna said following the Public announcement by the Command on October 27, 2019, parents of the two kids from Gombe state came to Awka and identified their children.

    He said the children have since reunited with their parents and that the suspects were handed over to the Gombe State Police Command for discreet investigation and prosecution.

    ”Upon interrogation by the police in Gombe State, Tthe suspects voluntarily confessed that they usually steal the children and bring to their sponsor, one Mrs Nkechi Odinye, here in Anambra State, who buys each child at the rate of between two hundred and four hundred thousand naira (#200 to 400,000), depending on their age bracket and gender.

    Following voluntary confession by the suspects and while acting on a tip off,  Police detectives attached to 3-3 Division, in Collaboration with Operatives attached to the Command’s Special Anti-Cult Section (SPACS), stormed the hideout of the principal suspect, one Mrs Nkechi Odinye, ‘f’, aged 55 years, and effected her arrest at Obosi in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

    The Suspect had hitherto evaded arrest for over three years by changing locations until her arrest.The team equally recovered sixteen other children of various age brackets,comprising ten boys and six girls, reasonably suspected to have been stolen from different parts of the country under her custody.

    Both the suspect and the found children were handed over to the Gombe State  Police Command where four of the children were identified and reunited with their biological parents after exhaustive investigation and forensic analysis, including DNA tests. Also one of them was handed over to the parents in Asaba, Delta State.”the statement read

    Haruna said on Monday, January 18, the Gombe State Police Command returned eleven unclaimed children comprising Seven (7) boys and four (4) girls, back to the Anambra State Command where the children were originally found.

    He said the children have been handed over to the Anambra State Ministry for Social Welfare, Women’s and Children’s Affairs, for safekeeping until their biological parents emerge to retrieve them.

    He said the command now has a total number of 18 unclaimed children rescued from suspected child traffickers.

    The spokesperson asked the parents of the children to come forward to claim them. He said anyone with useful information about the found children should report at Area Command Onitsha, 3-3 Divisional Police Station, Nkwelle Ezunaka, or contact the PPRO, Anambra State Police Command, through GSM no 08060970639.

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  • Police arrest 21-year-old drug dealer, recover N400,000 bribe

    Police arrest 21-year-old drug dealer, recover N400,000 bribe

    The arrest of a 21-year-old suspected drug dealer identified as Babayo Yahaya has been confirmed by the Gombe state police command on Thursday.

    WITHIN NIGERIA learnt that the suspected drug dealer has been supplying illicit drugs in Gombe and its environs for the past 2 years.

    This was contained in a statement released by the police public relations officer in the state, SP Mary Obed Malum.

    The commissioner of police, CP Ahmed Maikudi Shehu disclosed that the suspect was arrested on September 14 by officers attached to the Low-Cost Divisional Police Station and the suspect was arrested based on credible information.

    The suspect was arrested in Pantami quarters of Gombe metropolis with substances suspected to be hard drugs, where ‘upon interrogation, the suspect confessed to being a dealer of such illicit substance for about 2 years with Gombe and its environs.’

    ‘Search conducted on him and his premises, lead to the recovery of 107 bunch of Tramadol Capsules, 50 sachets of Exole Tablets, N400,000 used to bribe the police.’

    Explaining that the case would soon be transferred to the State Command of the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for further investigation and possible prosecution, CP Maikudi stated that the suspect claimed to be purchasing drugs from one Ebuka Chimeze of Onitsha town in Anambra state.

    The police had also arrested 3 suspected criminals said to specialise in motorcycle snatching in the state. According to Malum, who paraded the suspects before newsmen, the three suspects belong to a 6-member gang.

    She said an investigation is ongoing to arrest the three others who are the run and that they would be charged to court for the prosecution: ‘That is as they confessed to the crime,’ she told newsmen.

    One of the suspects confess to taking part in the crime they were suspected of. He said one Abubakar and other members of the gang gave him motorcycles to ride to Lafiya Lamorde in Adamawa state for sale. And that he was given N15,000 and N20,000 as a commission for two stolen motorcycles.

  • PHOTO: Police arrest 19-year-old kidnapper who returned 7-year-old boy after father’s refusal to pay ransom

    PHOTO: Police arrest 19-year-old kidnapper who returned 7-year-old boy after father’s refusal to pay ransom

    A 19-year-old suspected kidnapper has been arrested by the Gombe State Police Command for kidnapping a 7-year-old boy identified as Hassan Abubakar who lives in Kumbiya-Kumbiya Quarters for N3.5m ransom.

    The kidnapper recognised as Mohammed Ahmed who resides in Gabukka Quarters, Gombe Metropolis was arrested while returning the kidnapped boy after his father’s refusal to pay the N3.5m ransom.

    WITHIN NIGERIA learnt that the boy was kidnapped inside the mosque for 3 days before the suspect (Ahmed) brought him home while posing as a Good Samaritan.

    While reacting to the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer in Gombe state, SP Mary Malum confirmed the arrest of the suspect and stressed that the suspect will be charged to court when the investigation has been concluded.

    She said, “Ahmed went to the Kumbiya-Kumbiya Quarter in Gombe, where he saw the victim performing ablution in a mosque and sent him to buy sachet water for him; while on the way, he followed the boy and picked him on a motorcycle and took him to his house.

    “He hid the victim for two days and thereafter demanded ransom of N3.5m from the father of the victim before he could be released.

    When he saw that the ransom was not forthcoming, Ahmed decided to call one Aminu Babayo, the uncle to the victim, and told him that he had seen the boy abandoned at the Gabukka Quarter.

    “Aminu pleaded with him to bring the victim to his grandfather’s house at the Gabukka Quarter in order to be appreciated. While the relatives were still jubilant, the victim’s father observed that the mobile telephone number used in demanding the ransom was the same used in calling the victim’s uncle immediately alerted SARS operatives, who arrested the suspect.”

  • Police arrest Pastor for torturing 10-year-old boy with an electric iron

    Police arrest Pastor for torturing 10-year-old boy with an electric iron

    The Gombe State Police Command have arrested a pastor for torturing a 10-year-old boy with an electrical iron.

    The suspect identified as Emmanuel, 34, who works with the Eagles Prophetic Gospel Centre in Gombe State was paraded alongside 15 other criminal suspects.

    According to Daily Sun reports, the pastor is accused of child cruelty for inflicting physical injuries on 10-year-old Daniel James. The pastor accused his victim of theft, hence the cruel punishment meted out on him.

    The pastor told Daily Sun that 10-year-old James was the son of an ex-prostitute who had become a born again Christian thanks to evangelism carried out by his churchchurch.

    Pastor Emmanuel said: “The 10-year-old boy committed a crime of stealing, which has been his habitual character. So, on that day, I took another dimension of punishment; I used electric iron to threaten him and it burnt him.”

    He added that he took the kid to come and live with him after the church helped his mother find a place to live and a business to sustain herself and her elder son who is 19-year-old.

    “They lived close to an Almajiri School and the boy always had a problem with the Almajiris. So, I took him to live with me. I made a mistake of not reporting him to the police. I always report his character to the mother before I decide to punish him on my own. In the church, everybody knew me to be a very disciplined man.”

    While reacting to the issue, Police Public Relations Officer, Obed Mary Malum confirmed the incident and said that the suspect has confessed using a hot electric iron to burn the 10-year-old boy in different parts of his body.

    The police says the preacher will soon be prosecuted in court.

  • ‘Naira Marley’s songs and lifestyle influenced me’ 16-year-old yahoo boy

    ‘Naira Marley’s songs and lifestyle influenced me’ 16-year-old yahoo boy

    Gombe State Police Command  arrested a 16-year-old boy for cyber fraud who in return blamed his actions on Naira Marley whose song and lifestyle influenced him.

    The suspected internet fraudster, Gabriel Micheal insisted that he is just 16 years old after the police said that the suspected internet fraudster is 18years old.

     “I learnt hacking through tutorials on YouTube; for so many months I was at it. The lifestyle of a Nigerian musician, Naira Marley, the way he spends money influenced me. Marley talks about being a Yahoo boy (cyber fraudster). My addiction to computer started at the age of seven,” Michael said.

    “I’m 16 years old, from Kaltungo Local Government Area of Gombe State. I finished from the Nationwide Academy in Gombe. I was arrested for hacking into someone’s account.

    “I generate software like IP protocol, Angry IP scans, linos and I use them to do the job” he added.

    Micheal who pleaded for mercy while paraded before journalists disclosed that his skills can be channeled to legal ventures but no one is ready to help him.

    “I regret my actions. I pray to be pardoned, so that I can use my talent in other to work for them (law enforcement agency). I can channel my ideas to legal ventures but the challenge has always been that nobody encourages one to use his talent to do good things. For instance, friends will push you to do so because you are making money. My ambition is to work hard to become a member of the Department of Security Services.”

    On how he has been able conceal what he does from his parents, the suspect said he hides under the cover of his everyday job which is aluminum works.

    “I hide under the cover of my job; I’m into aluminum works. My parents did not suspect my heinous activities,” he said.

    Revealing how he was able to hack into the bank account of one Deborah Tanko to withdraw N187,000, Michael said;

    “Once you can guess a name or number you will formulate it. Usually, I start from getting your telephone number from your social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. After getting your names, telephone number and your bank, I will formulate it, and attempt to get your personal data base from the bank and thereafter generate your token for transaction. I don’t usually exceed two attempts; if you do it thrice, you will be caught.”

    According to Punch reports, the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, SP Mary Malum said Michael was arrested on August 30, 2019 around the PZ Quarters ( a commercial area of Gombe) for fraud, cheating and cybercrime.

    “Michael used his computer to hack into  Tanko’s account and withdrew the sum of N187,100 cash from her GT Bank account and the  suspect has confessed to the crime. Exhibits recovered from Michael include one mobile handset, N10,000 cash,  two pairs of shoes and clothes, amounting to about N33,000. The items were bought with the proceeds of the illegal withdrawal.

    “The suspect is under investigation with a view to charging him to court. In line with the IGP’s vision and mission of the Operation Puff Adder meant to reclaim the public space from heinous criminal elements that are threatening internal security, the Gombe State Police Command is determined to ensure that Gombe State remains peaceful.”

    Recall that Naira Marley was arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in May 2019, shortly after his heated exchange with his colleagues in the entertainment industry on cyber crime. The “Am I a Yahoo Boy” crooner was subsequently arraigned before a Federal High Court in Lagos on 11 counts of cybercrime and credit card fraud by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.