The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has said its operatives have smashed a deadly criminal gang responsible for the kidnap and murder of a Catholic Seminarian Rev Nnadi Michael of the Good Shepherd Major Seminary at Gonin Gora, Kakau in Chikun LGA of Kaduna state.
This is as three members of the 1-man gang have been arrested while the Inspector General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu, has directed a man hunt of the fleeing suspects.
The gang had stormed the Catholic seminary on January 9, 2020, and kidnapped four seminarians, three of who were subsequently released on January 31, while Rev. Michael was murdered by his abductors and his remains dumped in the bush where he was found.
Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), DCP Frank Mba, in a press statement, Sunday in Abuja, listed the gang members arrested as, “37-year-old father of seven, Tukur Usman; 40-year-old father of five, Shehu Bello: and 30-year-old father of one, Mustapha Mohammed; all of Igabi LGA of Kaduna state, were arrested after several months of intensive and extensive intelligence-led operations by crack detectives of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT).”
He said, “Discreet investigations so far reveal that the arrested suspects are part of a 19-man gang that also carried out the kidnap of Dr Phillip Ataga’s wife and two daughters on January 24, 2020, at Juji Community in Chikun LGA of Kaduna state.
“Mrs Ataga was killed by the gang following her heroic resistance to the despicable and inhuman attempt by the leader of the gang to rape her. The suspects after killing her released the daughters and corpse of the slain woman to the family after collecting ransom.
“Further investigations reveal that the same criminal gang is responsible for the kidnap of six students and two teachers of Engravers College, Chikun LGA, Kaduna, from their school premises on October 3, 2019.”
The spokesperson said, “The suspects, known to belong to a hybrid terrorist criminal network causing untold havoc in North-Central, Nigeria, have confessed to several other random operations along Abuja-Kaduna Expressway where they kidnapped, killed and robbed motorists, collecting ransom and valuables running into millions of naira.”
Mba said the Inspector General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu, while reiterating that the Force would remain unrelenting in ensuring that crimes across the country were reduced to the barest minimum, assured that the Force would not rest until the other members of the gang were apprehended and brought to book.
