Police Foil Plot to K!dnap Village Head, Arrest Two Suspects

Police Foil Plot to Kidnap Village Head, Arrest Two Suspects

The Kano State Police Command has arrested two 20-year-old men over an alleged plot to kidnap the village head of Bangare in Gezawa Local Government Area of the state.

The suspects, Aliyu Naziru Garba and Bashir Alhasan, were arrested following intelligence-led operations by operatives attached to the Gezawa Divisional Police Headquarters. According to the command’s spokesperson, CSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, the village head, Mallam Idris, reported that he received a threatening phone call at about 9:33 p.m. on October 24, in which an unidentified caller threatened to kidnap him. He formally reported the incident on October 26 at about 1:30 a.m. at the Gezawa Divisional Police Headquarters.

Following the report, police operatives launched a follow-up operation, which led to the arrest of the two suspects. The command said the suspects had confessed to the commission of the crime, adding that the investigation was ongoing, and they would be charged to court upon completion. The Commissioner of Police in Kano State, Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, commended the officers for their swift response and professional handling of the case.

Wider Security Crackdown
The Gezawa arrest is not an isolated case. It comes just days after operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad arrested seven suspected kidnappers at Bawaje Forest in Bebeji Local Government Area, recovering an AK-47 rifle and ₦730,500 suspected to be proceeds of kidnapping. The police also recovered 18 rounds of live ammunition, two motorcycles, 33 cows and 30 sheep during the operation. Efforts are ongoing to track down the alleged principal suspect and other members of the gang who escaped.

In another border operation, police arrested a notorious kidnap suspect and recovered a drone along the Kano–Kaduna border. The suspect was described as a member of a syndicate involved in kidnapping, armed robbery and cattle rustling across Kano, Katsina and Kaduna states, and was linked to the kidnapping of a household in Gwarzo Local Government Area.

The arrests are happening alongside a wider operation by the Kano State Multi-Agency Task Force led by Muhuyi Magaji Rimin Gado, which disclosed that it had arrested 380 suspects and secured over 230 convictions within two months. The task force also arrested 27-year-old Ishaq Lawan Ibrahim, popularly known as Malam Keya, over alleged sponsorship of violent gang clashes in Dala Local Government Area.

The Kano State Police Command has reiterated its commitment to protecting lives and property, urging residents to continue supporting security agencies with timely and credible information.