The police said they have arrested bandits’ informants that masterminded the kidnap of the wife and two children of Ibrahim Aminu, a serving lawmaker in Katsina.
The arrest of the informants was carried out by the inspector-general of police (IGP) intelligence response team (IRT)
The IRT made this known in a statement released by its secretariat on Sunday.
Bandits attacked the home of the lawmaker representing the Bakori constituency in the Katsina house of assembly and abducted his wife and two children in September 2021, a year after he was kidnapped.
IRT operatives attached to operation Restore Hope said they acted on credible information and arrested the suspects in their various hideouts.
The key suspects were identified as Muttaka Ibrahim, Suleiman Rabiu, and Surajo — all male and natives of Bakori LGA. They were arrested for allegedly supplying the information that led to the kidnap of the lawmaker’s family member.
According to the statement, Muttaka Ibrahim, the bandit informant, admitted to receiving N130,000 from the gang leader, while he named Yusuf Bala of Zaria as his accomplice.
Ibrahim said he and other gang members were informants to Sanni Tukur AKA Abacha, who specialises in terrorising residents of Katsina and Zamfara states.
Narrating his ordeal, the lawmaker told police investigators that he paid a total sum of N37,500,000 to the gang leader to secure his family’s release from captivity.