The operatives of the Nigeria Police Force have arrested two trans-national kidnappers involved in the kidnap of an American Citizen, Philippe Nathan Walton, on 28th October 2020,at his farm in Masalata Village, Republic of Niger.
The Nigeria Police Force in a statement released on Thursday 10th December 2020, by the Deputy Commissioner of Police and the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba while parading the trans-national kidnappers, gave the names of the suspects to be, Aliyu Abdullahi ‘m’ 21yrs a.k.a Mallam and Aliyu Umaru ‘m’ 23yrs a.k.a Kwatte Kusu, both from Sokoto State. The trans-national kidnappers were arrested on 25th November 2020.
The Police stating further, said the trans-national kidnappers, are members of a 15-man kidnap gang of Nigerian/Nigerien extraction, led by Barte Dan Alhaji and Dan Buda who were arrested following a special intelligence-led operation aimed at arresting the criminal gang, disrupting and halting other criminal activities by them.
“Investigations by the Intelligence Response Team reveal that the gang was plotting other abductions to avenge the death of their cohorts – 4 Nigeriens and 2 Nigerians who died during the rescue operations.
The Force is collaborating with its Nigerien counterpart in the investigations to apprehend other members of the transnational syndicate currently at large.
Meanwhile, as part of efforts at tackling transnational crimes, the Inspector General of Police, IGP M.A Adamu, is working in concert with other members of the West African Police Chiefs Organization (WAPCO) to deepen intelligence sharing amongst security agencies in the ECOWAS sub-region and strengthen security along the international borders of member States.
The suspects will be arraigned in court on completion of investigations,” the statement added.