Mohammed Tambaya, 26, younger brother of Kidnap suspect arrested in Ilorin, has given a chilling account of how he sold his pump action rifle to an Igbo man in Abakaliki for N700, 000.
According to the suspect, the gun purchaser had told him that he intends to use the gun to prosecute a communal clash in his village in the East.
Tambaya and his brother, Umar, 29, were on Wednesday arraigned over alleged kidnapping of Turkish Nationals in Kwara at the state’s police command.
Still having scars from encounters from men of vigilantes service who arrested the suspects, Umar corroborated his brother’s account that their operations are wide and expansive.
The police command said that the duo were part of a kidnap syndicate who in 2019 abducted four Turkish Nationals.
“Recall that in the month of July, 2019 four Turkish nationals were kidnapped by a six armed gang at Gbugbu village in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State.
“In a concerted effort by the men of the Command and members of the community, four of the kidnappers were arrested with one AK 47 riffle as at the time of the incident, the victims were rescued alive without payment of ransom.
“The arrested kidnappers mentioned the suspects being arraigned today who escaped as being members of their syndicate.
“Ever since then, the Command has been trailing the two fleeing suspects, explained Mohammed Bagega, commissioner of police, CP, Kwara.
According to him, actionable intelligence, however, indicated that the suspects were planning to carry out another operation.
“My operatives swooped on them and they were arrested.
“During investigation, the suspects confessed to being members of the kidnap syndicate that abducted the four Turkish citizens.
“They also confessed to have participated in several other kidnap incidents especially along Enugu/Abakaliki axis of the South East of the country,” said Bagega.
The commissioner said that investigation is still ongoing to arrest other syndicate members and recover their operational weapons after which they will be charged to court.
