A suspected kidnapper is currently in police custody for attempting to bribe the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Tafa, Kaduna State.
This information was disclosed in a statement issued by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Mansir Hassan, and made available to newsmen in Kaduna on Thursday.
The statement reported that on January 19, 2024, at approximately 22:00 hours, the Divisional Headquarters received credible information about the presence of a suspicious person at the Easyway Hotel in Tafa town.
Operatives, led by the Divisional Police Officer, swiftly stormed the hotel and apprehended a 28-year-old individual, Bello Muhammad, from Zamfara State. They also recovered the sum of two million, three hundred and fifty thousand naira (N2,350,000:00), suspected to be proceeds from kidnapping.
During the investigation, the suspect confessed to being a kidnapper operating with a gang around Kagarko forest in Kaduna. The statement revealed that the recovered sum represented his share of a ransom collected. Additionally, a check of his mobile phone corroborated the suspect’s admission, displaying pictures of him brandishing an AK47 rifle in a forest.
The statement declared that Bello Muhammad attempted to offer a one-million-naira bribe to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) to halt further investigation, which the Police Officer promptly rejected.
The investigation is still ongoing, with the suspect providing essential information to assist the police, according to the statement.
The Commissioner of Police, Kaduna State Command, CP A.D Ali, commended the Tafa Division’s operatives, urging them and others not to relent but to increase efforts until crimes and criminal activities are significantly reduced.
Furthermore, the CP called on hoteliers, recreation, and leisure service operators in the state to diligently scrutinize the identities of their customers to prevent providing criminals with a safe haven.
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