By Amina Abdullahi Girbo
Bauchi State Police Command has declared with great certainty that the activities of kidnappers and bandits have been degraded to the barest minimum in the State.
The declaration was made by the Commissioner of Police, Awwal Musa Mohammad while addressing a Press Conference at the Command Headquarters in Bauchi on Tuesday.
The CP said that, “It is expedient to update members of the public on the situation of the state and to showcase our achievements so far. The menace of Sara-suka, thuggery and other anti-social vices were subdued, following a series of arrests and prosecutions of several gang members.”
According to him,”Generally, the major noticeable crime waves in Bauchi State are anchored on Sara-suka, Armed Robbery, Kidnapping and other offences against persons and/or properties. However, with the anti-crime strategies put in place by the Command, these menaces have been reduced to the barest minimum.”
“At this juncture, permit me to state categorically that the Command has recorded less violent crimes within the period under review, especially kidnapping and banditry,” he added.
Awwal Musa however said that, “This invariably doesn’t suggest that the unscrupulous elements never attempt to strike in the state, rather the proactive and effective policing measures established and being executed across the length and breadth of the state from the major obstacle that prevents them from actualizing their nefarious acts.”
The Command, through sources of information and monitoring activities of security complementary bodies (quasi-security outfits) to checkmate their activities, where on 28/09/2023 at about 0300hrs, monitoring detectives received a piece of information from a reliable source that on 26/09/2023 at about 1930hrs some professional hunters namely; Muhammad Umar age 43 years of Takanda village and Hussain Umar, age 35yrs of Zaranda Village.
The above-mentioned quasi-outfit members acted and arrested the following persons namely; Joshua Yonana ‘aged 30, Bitrus Iliya aged 27 and Yonana Abubakar aged 35 all of Waya village respectively.
Interrogation by the quasi-members led to the beaten-up of the suspects in a bid to force them and unravel the facts of the allegation against them, suddenly, one of the suspects, Yonana Abubakar collapsed and was rushed to a nearby clinic, later died and was confirmed by a medical Doctor.
On receipt of the report, a team of Detectives led by DPO, Toro swung into action, rushed to the scene and arrested the members of the professional hunters to reap what they had sown, while the corpse was released to the relatives for burial.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the Three arrested suspects were alleged of spiritually stealing a male organ of one Usman Sale aged 28 of Sabon Garin Nabardo.
During interrogation, the suspects confessed to have committed the alleged offence for ritual purposes which led to the arrest of their gang leader, who died during interrogation by the PROHAN.
Investigation is still ongoing, after which the suspects will be charged to court for prosecution accordingly.
The CP added that, in a related development, on 27/09/2023 at about 2300hrs, one Jibril Sarkin Ruwa aged 40 of Kadalen Kanawa village, Warji LGA, reported at Warji Divisional Police Headquarters.
He reported that one Dayyabu Yusuf aged 39 of Tsangayan Jada via Jama’are LGA Bauchi State, deviously lured one Faruku Faisal (a pupils) aged 14 of kiyawa LGA of Jigawa State via Tsangayan Mallam Faisal of the same address into the bush and attempted to kill him by strangulating him with a rope, but luckily, in the process, the victim escaped and raised an alarm which notified the nearest folks and abetted the victim.
On receipt of the information, a team of detectives led by CSP Ahmed Buba, DPO Warji, rushed to the scene and arrested the suspect, whereas, the victim was immediately rushed to General Hospital Warji for medical attention, where he was treated and discharged.
During interrogation, the defendant confessed to the offence of attempted Culpable Homicide, but he denied that it was for ritual purposes, rather he had a misunderstanding with Mallam Faisal and that was why he wanted to revenge on his pupil (Almajiri), a search was conducted at his residence, but nothing incriminating was found in his house.
Investigation is in progress, after which the suspect will be charged to court for the established Offences upon conclusion of the investigation accordingly.
Again, the Recovery of fourteen locally made prohibited firearms and raiding of criminal hideouts in a pro-active measure to avert the resurgence of incidents of kidnapping activities and to sustain the already existing peace being enjoyed in Gwana and Pali district, Alkaleri LGA simultaneously as earlier mentioned.
On 29/09/2023 at about 0600hrs, a combined patrol team in partnership with other relevant stakeholders, raided some suspected blackspots across the two districts, as a result of the operations, the following calibre of prohibited firearms were recovered from the suspected kidnappers/bandits’ enclaves.
Four locally made revolver guns using cartridges, Eight locally made Dane guns using gunpowder, One locally-made pistol gun using a cartridge and Five empty shells of cartridges as well as some assorted charms.
The aforementioned prohibited weapons were recovered from kidnappers/bandits’ enclaves at different locations within Alkaleri forest and on the run, however, frantic efforts are being intensified to uncover more and track the perpetrators.
Also, on 17/7/2023 at about 100hrs, one Danladi Isiyaka aged 30 and six others, all of Gwana district via Alkaleri LGA, Bauchi State, were suspected and arrested in possession of prohibited firearms and unlicensed weapons which includes;
One locally-made AK 47 rifle, One fabricated pistol, One locally-made Pump action and One locally-made revolver pistol.
During interrogation, the suspects confessed that they were responsible for a series of Kidnapping and Armed robbery activities in Alkaleri forest and beyond.
The CP further stated that, on 15th September 2023 at about 1930hrs, Command detectives acted on credible intelligence and arrested one Jibrin Mohammed of Dengi in Kanam LGA via Plateau State.
He was found in possession of prohibited firearms and other intoxicating items as follows; One locally-made pistol, some quantity of drugs and dry leaves suspected to be Cannabis sativa.
During interrogation, the suspect could not give a satisfactory account of the prohibited items recovered from him, he was subsequently charged to court for the established offence for prosecution accordingly.
Also, from July’ to date, a number of firearms including: Four AK-47 rifle, One SMG, One locally-made AK-47 rifle, One locally-made pump action, Three locally-made pistol, Four Dane guns, 105 live ammunitions, Three empty magazines and One cutlass.
The Command also arrested the means of transportation for crime committance including One Motor-vehicle, Golf 3, One Motor-vehicle J5 pick-up, Two Tricycles (Keke Napep) and Three Motorcycles, Bajaj Boxer.
The Command also recovered Electronic devices including Ten different types of handheld phones and Three different made Laptop.
The Command rescued 60 kidnapped victims and neutralized Seventeen suspected kidnappers/bandits within the period under review.
Auwal Musa said that, “It is worthy to note that, the milestone recorded by the Command would be attributed to the strategic review of the Command operations through robust partnership with other sister security agencies and through community partnership, which is known as the Community Policing Scheme.
He said that, “I urged all meaningful citizens/residents of the State to continue to support the Police and the security community to achieve the desired goal. The Command will not shy away from its constitutional mandate of protecting the lives and property of citizens in the State.
The CP concluded saying, “Finally, the Command is taking a proactive measure through robust partnership with critical stakeholders in the State, however, I want to reiterate that all complaints about Police actions or inactions may be reported via the following contact CRU numbers; 08023684497 or at the nearest Police formations respectively.”
