Securityking News recently met with three kidnappers at a safe house where they are being kept by the Inspector General of Police Special Teams established to track down and arrest kidnappers across the country.
In the interaction that followed, the deadly criminals made confessions of their escapades that will send chills down the spines of the public.
Their arrests was made pursuant to the directives of the Inspector General if Police to Operation Puff Adder.
For Sani Ibrahim alias Sani Kwalba (bottles because of his prowess at drinking alcohol), kidnapping as a source of livelihood was the peak of his criminal career which started from petty thievery, metamorphosed into cattle rustling and peaked with kidnapping of persons for ransom.
According to him, his life as a criminal was very rewarding as his marriage to his three wives produced eleven children and he lived a life of hedonism with alcohol as his constant companion anytime he was not involved in his nefarious activities.
He said, “I started kidnapping when one of my bosses’ boys had an issue with somebody. We lured the person and kept him for 18 days until his people brought 400,000 and he was released. While he was in custody, I was the one that went to buy leg chain so that he will not escape in the night.
“After the first incident, there was no going back again. My boss, Abdullaziz bought a gun for me and we were drafted at a point of join Buharin Daji (a notorious kidnapper in Zamfara state)who was killed sometimes ago).
“We used to join forces with Buharin Daji. We fought alongside him any time the security forces tried to kill him in his hideout. We were his back up army because his boys were being depleted by the constant encounter with the security services” he said
He said he was into cattle rustling where he was taught not only how to use gun but how to service them. In fact, he claimed that while he offered his services to Buharin Daji, he could service up to 30 AK 47 refles in less than ten minutes, a feat that even his instructor, on Musa was very proud of.
With the death of Buharin Daji, the leader of his gang one Abdullaziz collected his gun back and for a brief moment, the magnitude of his life as a a criminal dawned on him and according to him, he made vow before God that he would quit life of crime and be a responsible member of the society ‘I swore to God that anytime I went back to kidnapping, God should expose me’ but it did not take long before he went back to his criminal past. He explained how:
“One day, some boys came to me that they wanted to kidnap somebody. We went to kidnap him. After a while, I was arrested.
Now what I want to say is that I am asking for pardon. I will never go back to criminality again but will assist the police, especially the team that arrested me. I will cooperate with the government and the police. I have repented and I swear that I will ensure that all known criminals are brought to book. I am married to three wives and have eleven children” he said.
Commenting on if his wives knew him as a criminal, he said: “They don’t know me with any trade; they know I don’t have any cow yet I come back with money or sometimes with many cows that they know I never owned. It’s natural that they will suspect I am doing something untoward” he said.
Though he said he was ready to turn a new leaf if he was pardoned by the government and police, he did not show any remorse throughout the duration of the interaction.
Like Sani Ibrahim, Rufai Haruna also started his criminal life as a cattle rustler before graduating into a kidnapper. The Rigachukun, Igabi local government of Kaduna state born 27 year old kidnapper said though he made lots of money from kidnapping, his wife never knew what he was into as he went the extra length to conceal his trade from her.
According to him, one of his friends who is into cattle rustling with him introduced him to kidnapping because according to his friend, kidnapping was more lucrative.
He disclosed that during the course of his criminal activity which spanned more than one year, ransom as high as N5 Million naira was paid while some people paid N3 million while others paid N1.5 million.
Explaining the most memorable kidnapping operation he undertook, Haruna said, “There was a time we kidnapped one person and we took him where we keep people. We got talking and he said he was a colonel in the Nigerian army. My friend, Ismail that we were assigned to guard him became hostile when he knew that he was a soldier.
“He would put the (food) bread that was meant for the solder in the sun to get very dry before giving to the soldier. After that, they brought one lady and Ismail raped her. I was angry and left Ismail’.
Haruna continued, “At another time, we blocked the Kaduna Zaria highway and kidnapped one Alhaji Isiaku, a member of the House of Representatives. We kept him for three days. We gave his car to Saleh Kura to take to Sokoto and sell. We were paid N1.5 million while the Colonel brought N3Million Naira. The lady that my colleague raped also brought N1.5 Million Naira.
He explained that the soldier was singled out for such a harsh treatment because he was a security personnel. He said they could not harm him because their boss left a firm instruction that on no account should a victim who is not violent be killed.
“What we did to the Colonel was a sort of punishment because he was a military man. We will put the bread in the sun to get very dry before giving it to him to eat without water.
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“I graduated into kidnapping from cattle rustling. Between cattle rustling and kidnapping, I have spent three years. I am married with two children. My wife does not know that I am into kidnapping. When I get my share from the kidnapping, I will give my share to a friend to keep so that my wife will not see me with so much money.
Explaining what he does with his own share of the ransom money, Haruna who said he is 27 years old said he lavished it on ‘beautiful women who were imported into our camp by our superior.
“I spend my money on beautiful women. I did not buy even a chicken. We look for beautiful girls. They come to the camp where we stay” he said.
He noted that unlike other kidnappers from Zamfara state that preferred the Abuja Kaduna highway to operate, his operational base was the Kaduna-Zaria road because he is more familiar with the area having been born in Rigachukun.
“My area of concentration was Kaduna-Zaria road. From Birnin Yero to Zaria was where we operated. Anytime we kidnapped somebody, we will take the victim to the farm house of General Wushishi. It is an abandoned house that has an underground section. The house has been there even before I was born. The people around the house know nothing about the fact that we keep kidnap victims there. It is between Rigachukun and Mararaban Jos..
Despite rejecting all entreaties from his victims to be set free when they were kidnapped, Haruna said he would never go back to crime again if the government gave him a second chance. He said he will dedicate his life to fighting crime in the society, especially kidnapping and cattle rustling.
“I guess my time was up. I plead with the Nigerian government and the police to forgive me. I regret what I did. If God gives me a second chance, I will swear with the Koran and I will never take what does not belong to me ever again” he said.
On his part, 20 year old Sani Haruna, the most dealy and someone who kills with joy admitted that he killed so many people during his career that cannot remember the number on people he has killed.
He said he was not really into kidnapping, that his task was to safeguard kidnapped victims by his superior, and finish them off anytime he was given order to do so by his boss. He says he doesn’t ask questions.
He said, “I used to guard kidnapped victims in Katsina. I have been doing this for one year. Before this, I was a herdsman. They approached me and said I should abandon cow herding to come and be their guard. I was herding cows for somebody but we parted ways and he refused to settle me. It was after parting ways with the person that I met these kidnappers. I know them and they also have cows. I told them they should give me their cows to look after. But they kept me in charge of kidnapped victims. At the end of every operation, they used to give me between ten and twenty thousand Naira”.
He said his bosses told him that anybody that failed to pay ransom after a particular time should be killed because if he did not kill them, he (Sani Haruna) will be killed
“Between me and my God, I can’t tell the number of people I have killed. They are many. My bosses told me that if I don’t kill them, they will kill me. We must kill them. I am married but my wife does not know what I do. I guard them in the bush. If I am going to be away, I will tell my wife that I am going to visit some people” he said.
Furthermore, he said that just like he lost count of people he killed, he had also lost count of people that were kidnapped and brought to him. I lost count of the people that were brought for me to guard. I lost count of the people kidnapped because they were too many.
“Before I was arrested, I prayed to God that he should do something that will make me leave the bush and live normal life again. It was not my intention to kill but my bosses told me that if I don’t kill them, they will kill me. After killing them, they have a Mallam who prays for the corpses and they are buried according to Islamic rites.
“I am appealing for forgiveness from government so that I can continue to cooperate with the police operative that arrested me. I have repented. I will never return to the bush again.
“To the people that I have killed, I appeal to their family to forgive me. I have made mistakes and I have accepted my mistakes. But I need government to forgive me and give me a second chance to assist the police put a stop to the kidnapping in the country” he said..
It should be emphasized that the arrest of these deadly kidnappers who also belong to bandits gangs who had made life miserable for hundreds of travellers along Abuja-Kaduna, Kaduna-Kano, Abuja-Minna and Katsina – Kaduna highways, was made possible following marching orders to Operation Puff Adder and Special Forces of the Police to track and arrest the hoodlums.
The Special Forces made of the IGP Intelligence Response Team led by DCP Abba Kyari and the IGP Special Tactical Squad led by DCP Kolo Yusuf, when deployed usually work in synergy and jointly with Police Commands of states where identified forest hideout of the kidnapping gangs are holed up.
Some commands whose operatives have participated actively in the several gunfights with the bandits and kidnappers during operations include, Katsina, Kaduna, Niger, FCT and Zamfara State Police Commands.
Picture shows Commander of IGP’s IRT displaying sophisticated weaponry recovered from kidnappers after several daring operations to arrest them
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