Police arrest 54 suspected kidnappers, robbers, recover firearms

The Nigeria Police Force has arrested 54 suspects over cases of kidnapping and armed robbery amongst others, and recovered 92 firearms of various calibres, 760 ammunitions, 120 magazines, two improvised explosive devices (bombs), and fake $970,000.

It was reported that the arrests and recoveries were made by the Department of Force Intelligence – Intelligence Response Team of the NPF.

The Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi made the development known on Wednesday during a press briefing and parade of some of the suspects in Abuja.

Adejobi said, “A total of 54 suspects were arrested by the gallant operatives of DFI-IRT and DFI-STS, some of whom are already facing prosecution in court for the various cases for which they have been indicted.

“Ninety-two firearms were recovered, 760 live ammunition were recovered, 14 exhibit vehicles, one forged document, 120 magazines, two IEDs, one suicide belt as well as cash sums of fake currencies totaling 970,000 US Dollars were also recovered and marked as exhibits for the prosecution of the various cases.

The Force PRO further noted that among the arrested suspects were five principal suspects connected to the kidnapping of a Swiss national named Diego Tanner.

The police said the suspects include – Nneka Okparaf (33 years old), who hails from Ikeduru LGA in Imo State; Emu Larry Chidiebere (34 years old), a resident of Ika North East LGA in Delta State; Babatunde Femi (30 years old), originally from Owode Obafemi LGA in Ogun State; Williams Banjo Omotayo (28 years old), with roots in Epe LGA, Lagos State and Samuel Balogun (22 years old), from Isale-Oja LGA in Oyo State.

“This unfortunate incident occurred on May 30, 2023, when Mr. Tanner was abducted and subsequently released after a ransom payment of 2000 euros. The dedicated operatives of the IRT, tirelessly working to bring criminals to justice, put to use, the Nigeria Police Force’s ICT apparatus and arrested all the five principal suspects involved in this kidnapping case.

“This operation not only led to the apprehension of the suspects but also resulted in the recovery of critical evidence, including one assault rifle, two locally fabricated single-barrel long guns, and an empty magazine,” the Force PRO added.