The Nigerian Police Force (NPF) yesterday paraded 13 suspects who were involved in the abduction of President Muhammadu Buhari’s in-law and district head of Daura, Alhaji Musa Umar Uba.
The traditional ruler was whisked away from his Daura home in Katsina State on May 1 and was rescued on July 2 in Kano.
The suspects were paraded alongside 27 others who were apprehended by the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) and the Special Tactical Squad (STS), under operation Puff Adder set up to curb kidnapping and banditry across the country.
Spokesman for the police, Mr. Frank Mba, said in Abuja while parading the suspects that the kidnap was masterminded by a local collaborator.
Mba who said the 13 suspects aged between 20 and 46 years gave their names as Aminu Saleh, Yusuf Dahiru, Abdullah Mohammed, Bilal Yusuf, Sarfilu Abdu, Dahiru Musa, Tukur Bukar, Muhammed Saidu, Abubakar Adamu, Mustapha Zakariyya, Ibrahim Mohammed and Bako Mustapha.
The police spokesman said five of them were from Katsina, four from Daura, one from Niger Republic and the rest from Kano.
He said their arrest was made possible through the cooperation of the communities where the kidnapping took place.
He said the suspects include: Aminu Saleh, Yusuf Dahiru, Abdullah Mohammed, Bilal Yusuf, Sarfilu Abdu, Dahiru Musa, Tukur Bukar, Muhammed Saidu, Abubakar Adamu, Mustapha Zakariyya, Ibrahim Mohammed and Bako Mustapha.
Mba said a total of nine AK47 rifles, six other assorted guns, including 383 rounds of ammunition of different calibre were recovered from the suspects.
He added that during the operation that led to the rescue of the district head, the police also recovered military-grade hand grenades and chemicals for making improvised explosive devices.
The Police also exhibited a laptop computer, which Mba said contained video instructions on bomb-making and manuals on tactical manoeuvres in gun fighting.
Fielding questions from journalists, one of the suspects, Yusuf Dahiru said they demanded for $30 million ransom from the traditional ruler’s family before they could release him.
He said they were yet to receive any ransom before their arrest in Kano.
Two of the kidnappers who admitted their involvement in the crime, said they spent more than six months in Libya where learning weapons handling, musketry and how to disarm security personnel.
Another suspect said he led three others to kidnap the Magajin Gari and remained with him until his rescue.
Meanwhile, Mba called for tougher legislation against kidnapping.
He said such legislation is imperative because kidnappers move to places where weak laws operate.
“When you don’t have a uniform law, they are advised by their legal handlers to move to places with weaker laws. It is important that there is a uniformity of laws to stem kidnapping.
“I am calling for tougher legislation at the federal and state levels as a matter of urgency to review the laws and make them stronger as it relates to kidnapping,” he said.
