The FCT Police Command has arrested five suspects linked to a kidnapping and banditry network operating on the outskirts of Abuja, including a heavily pregnant woman who served as cook and logistics supplier for the criminal gang and their hostages.
The FCT Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Sanusi while parading the suspects before journalists in Abuja on Monday, said the arrests followed a clearance operation at the Byazin area of the FCT on June 11, 2026, during which some bandits were arrested, others neutralized, and victims rescued.
According to him, the woman identified as Hauwa Shafiu was heavily pregnant at the time of her arrest but had continued to supply food and logistics to the gang and their captives.
“As a follow-up to that operation, upon further engagements, we stormed a suspected bandit and kidnapper’s hideout within the same area and arrested some suspects. One of the suspects, Shafiu, operates as a logistics supplier and cook for the criminal gang and their hostages.
“She was heavily pregnant at the time of her arrest, even though her pregnancy did not deter her from continuously committing this heinous crime,” the commissioner said.
He added that upon her arrest, he ordered that she be taken to the hospital, where she subsequently gave birth.
“The baby is sound and safe. She too is sound. We have provided every medical need while we watch her recuperate,” he said, noting that she remained in the police clinic.
Others arrested suspects are Yahaya Abdullahi, Muhammed Yunusa, and Shamsudeen Mustapha.
Speaking on their arrest, Sanusi said preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects were part of a criminal network involved in kidnapping and banditry within and around the FCT and had strategically embedded themselves inside a local community located approximately one kilometre from the territory’s boundary.
“The group had infiltrated and integrated into a local community just about one kilometre away from the FCT itself, enabling them to gather intelligence and coordinate repeated attacks on targeted persons and locations,” the commissioner said.
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He said exhibits recovered from the suspects included four motorcycles, 31 pieces of 500mg tramadol tablets, 10 pieces of 50mg tramadol tablets, five phones, one POS machine, cooking utensils, and N320,000 cash.
The commissioner said the cash was part of the proceeds from a recent kidnapping ransom.
“According to the confession of one of the suspects, the N320,000 was his share from a N7 million ransom paid to the kidnappers,” he revealed.
He also disclosed that a suspect confessed to having dispatched a motorcycle to help two fleeing bandits escape during the June 11 operation, confirming that two persons who evaded arrest that day had been assisted from within the network.
He said Mustapha was an active drug supplier to the bandit network.
The commissioner announced that the command, in collaboration with the FCT Administration, would demolish the identified hideouts of the suspects.
“We have an arrangement. Since we have identified their houses, we are moving from here to go and demolish those houses in collaboration with the FCT administration. Any such houses that we continue to identify, we will continue to bring down,” he said.
He also declared several bandits wanted whose photographs had been obtained, warning that the command was prepared for direct confrontation.
“As they are looking for us, we are equally looking for them,” he said.
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