Ubale Mohammed, a suspected kidnap kingpin and member of a vigilante group, has been arrested in Taraba State following an intelligence report.
He was apprehended by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) at Karim Lamido Local Government Area of Taraba, after several years of being on the watch list of security agencies in the state.
The suspected kidnap kingpin is said to have three wives and 14 children.
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Before his arrest, the NSCDC said Mohammed, upon sighting operatives of the corps, broke his SIM card and threw his phone into a river to avoid being linked to crimes he may have committed.
While parading the suspect in Jalingo, the state commandant of the NSCDC, Muhammed Waksha described him as one known for kidnapping several persons from their residence and taking them away to bordering communities between Plateau and Taraba States.
Waksha said Mohammed’s arrest was made possible by the confessions of another suspected kidnap kingpin, Barde Bulala, who was earlier arrested from the same Karim Lamido LGA.
Waksha disclosed that Bulala was currently in custody of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) led by the Abba Kyari, and had been of great assistance to security agents.
“Yes, we do collaborate with not only Abba Kyari, but with also other agencies, and right now the one that is singing the music across the Federation was arrested by my command, we handed him over to Abba kyari and is yielding result.
“It is based on intensive intelligence gathering, surveillance and cooperation by members of the public, because when the public has confidence in your activities, they give you reliable information and we do not just act on that, we have to also use our intelligence to monitor before we swing into action
“This is also made possible through cooperation of all security agencies and the activities of the kidnappers is declining.
“Through proper profiling, we will have more information to go after his gang members on the run and we shall surely get them,” he said.