The Nigeria Police Force on Tuesday paraded 11 suspected abductors of the Deputy High Commissioner of Sierra Leone to Nigeria, Maj-Gen. Alfred Claude-Nelson.
The Sierra Leonean envoy was kidnapped on June 30 along Kaduna-Abuja Road by suspected gunmen and freed on July 5.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Don Awunah, while presenting the suspect said that the suspects were arrested through coordinated police operation.
“In a coordinated operation based on intelligence and technical support, the intelligence Response Team of the Nigeria Police has smashed an 11-man kidnap gang.
“This coordinated operation led to the arrest of 11 members of the notorious gang that has been terrorising the North Central states of the country,” he said.
He said that the gang’s mode of operation included mounting of road blocks on highways in military uniforms and surprise attacks on unsuspecting motorists while others move their victims from one point to another in the forest to avoid detection.
Awunah said that items recovered from the suspects included three AK 47 rifles, three AK 47 rifle magazines with 90 rounds of ammunition as well as two sets of military camouflage.
He said the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, had directed state commissioners of police and technical operation commanders to improve on response to cases of crime and criminality.
He said that the IG assured all members of the diplomatic community of their safety and adequate security in Nigeria.
He said that investigations were ongoing and that the suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigations were concluded.
