Nine suspected internet fraudsters, an informant to bandits, and eight other suspected criminals were on Thursday paraded by the Nigerian Police in Zamfara State.
The Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Dalijan, while parading the 18 suspects including two females, said they were arrested by the Police Tactical Squad during different operations across the state.
One of the suspects, identified as Dan-Umaru Abubakar, is believed to have played a key role in the abduction of female students of the Federal University in Gusau last year.
Concerning the arrest of Abubakar, the police boss said, “We have been on the investigation, and will continue to put in our best until all those suspects are arrested, and the students reunited with their families.”
As for the suspected internet fraudsters, the CP said they were apprehended based on credible intelligence and that investigation showed that they have scammed more than 2,000 people.
The suspects were arrested with over N2m cash (N2,270,000), several sim cards, and four motorcycles.
A suspected supplier of firearms to the bandits, Nafisa Sani, who allegedly masterminded the abduction of her friend when bandits ran out of money and solicited her assistance, was also among those paraded.
Nafisa was said to have offered her best friend to the suspected bandits.
“She masterminded the abduction of her own friend,” the police commissioner said. “Before then, she had been supplying arms and ammunition to bandits. And whenever they ran out of money, they solicited her assistance and she offered her best friend to be kidnapped.”
The second female suspect was said to have kidnapped a three-year-old baby and demanded a ransom.
Beyond parading the suspects, CP Dalijan reiterated the commitment of the police to flush out suspected criminals in Zamfara State.
As part of the drive to achieve that, he said the police had established information boxes across the state for residents to volunteer vital information to help the police and stop criminals, and their activities.
“All we need from you is information,” he said. “ We have introduced information boxes which we have placed at hospitals, schools, and ministries. All you need to do is to write the information. Don’t write your phone number or your name. Just put the information inside that box.”
