Kidnap Kingpin’s Re-arrest Will Resolve Dispute Over Killing Of Policemen By Soldiers – Police

The Nigeria Police Force says the re-arrest of alleged kidnap kingpin, Alhaji Hamisu Bala Wadume, by its men will solve the riddle of how and why some Nigerian soldiers recently killed three of its officers in Ibi town of Taraba state.

The Force PRO, Mr Frank Mba, said on Tuesday that the police re-arrested Wudame in his hideout at Layin Mai Allo Hotoro area of Kano State on Monday night.

Frank recalled that “the Police had been on the massive manhunt for the suspect, Alhaji Hamisu Bala Wadume since 6th August, 2019 following the unfortunate incident in Ibi, Taraba State which resulted in the brutal murder of three (3) Police Officers and two (2) civilians, and injury to five (5) others. The suspect, who was appropriately restrained at the time of the incident, was subsequently released by his “rescuers” after they had destroyed the restraining handcuffs.”

He said the police believe that, “the re-arrest of the suspect, Alhaji Hamisu Bala Wadume, will no doubt, help in bringing answers to the numerous but hitherto unanswered questions touching on the incident and the larger criminal enterprise of the suspect.”

The Force PRO quoted the Inspector of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, as commending his men for fishing the alleged kidnap kingpin out of his hideout.

Wudame’s Escape After Arrest  

Wadume is alleged to be a notorious kidnap kingpin who operated a massive criminal enterprise and was involved in a series of “high-profile kidnap incidents” in Taraba State before his first arrest in August.

Operatives of the Intelligence Response Team from the Police Force Headquarters had arrested him in the state and were conveying him to Abuja when soldiers of the Battalion 93, Takum, Taraba State, accosted them.

The soldiers were alleged to have killed the police operatives and freed the kidnapper.

But the Army had in its statement claimed that they mistook the policemen for kidnappers. 

Police Blast Army For ‘Distorting’ Facts

The police had slammed the Nigerian Army and accused it of distorting the facts in the killing of the three officers by the soldiers. The Force gave the names of the officers killed as: Sgt. Usman Danzumi, Inspector Mark Ediole, and Sgt. Dahiru Musa.

The Army had in its statement on the killing of the officers said troops of 93 Battalion Nigerian Army Takum “pursued and exchanged fire with some suspected Kidnappers who indeed turned out to be an Intelligence Response Team from the Police Force Headquarters Abuja on a covert assignment from Abuja.”

It claimed that the slain police officers refused to stop when its soldiers stopped them “at three consecutive check points,”

“The flagrant refusal of the suspected kidnappers to stop at the three checkpoints prompted a hot pursuit of the fleeing suspects by the troops. It was in this process that the suspected kidnappers who were obviously armed opened fire at the troops sporadicaly thus prompting them to return fire,” the Army had said.

The police had, however, said in their response that they found it, “insensitive, disrespectful and unpatriotic for the Press Release by the Army to continue to describe Policemen on lawful National Assignment as ‘suspected kidnappers’ long after it had become crystal clear to the Army that these are Law Enforcement Officers who unfortunately were gruesomely murdered in the line of duty by Nigerian soldiers attached to 93 Battalion, Takum.”

But the police had queried the Army, saying: “The most important question arising from the Nigerian Army Press Release is: Where is Alhaji Hamisu Bala Wadume? Alhaji Hamisu Bala Wadume is a millionaire kidnapper arrested by the Police but paradoxically treated as a ‘‘kidnap victim’’ by the Soldiers and subsequently ‘rescued’ by them. Where is he? Where is the rescued kidnapper?”

Meanwhile, there were reports that investigations carried out into the killing of three policemen showed that Wadume was allegedly released on the orders of an Army captain in Taraba state.

It was also gathered that the investigations found that the said Army captain had exchanged 191 phone messages with the kidnap kingpin.

It was also learnt that a Police Divisional Officer in the state “had 200 phone calls with the wanted kidnap kingpin”.