Police foil two kidnap attempts in Kwara, arrest four

The Kwara State Police Command has foiled two kidnapping attempts and arrested four suspects in the Baruten and Ifelodun Local Government Areas of the state.

In a statement on Thursday, the command’s spokesperson, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, said the arrests followed intelligence-driven operations by the Anti-Kidnapping Squad and the State Criminal Investigation Department.

According to the statement, two suspects—Tukur Muhammad and Yahaya Abdullahi—were arrested in Baruten for attempting to extort ₦4 million from a resident of Ajuba Fulani Camp, Ilesha Baruba, after initially demanding ₦20 million.

The statement read, “In response to a reported case of criminal conspiracy and threats to kidnap, the Kwara State Police Command has arrested two suspects who attempted to extort money from a victim.

“On January 15, 2025, at about 06:30 hrs, a resident of Ajuba Fulani Camp, Ilesha Baruba, discovered a white paper placed at the front door of his residence with two phone numbers written on it.

“Upon calling one of the numbers, the receiver threatened to kidnap him and his family unless a ransom of ₦20 million was paid. After negotiations, the demand was reduced to ₦4 million. The victim promptly reported the case to the police.

“Through intelligence-driven operations, operatives from the State Criminal Investigations Department (Anti-Kidnapping Squad) successfully tracked the identified phone numbers, leading to the arrest of two suspects.

“During thorough interrogations, the suspects admitted to strategically placing their contact details at the victim’s residence to establish communication and coerce a ransom payment.

“Further investigations uncovered a pattern of criminal activity, indicating that the suspects had been utilising multiple phone numbers to issue threats and extort unsuspecting individuals.”

In a separate operation, the police apprehended Umar Sanni and Dairu Isiaku in Ifelodun LG for allegedly attempting to extort ₦5 million from their victims through threats of kidnapping.

The statement added that both suspects confessed to their roles in the crime, admitting to using multiple phone numbers to target potential victims.

“On January 9, 2025, at about 1100 hrs, the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of the State Criminal Investigation Department of the command acted on a report by two individuals from Ifelodun Local Government Area who received threatening calls and messages demanding a ransom of five million naira (#5,000,000) to avoid being kidnapped.

“Through intelligence-led operations, the police detectives tracked and arrested one Umar Sanni of Tarshan Girgi, Wushishi of Niger State, whose apprehension led to the arrest of one Dairu Isiaku of Iyana Share, Ifelodun LGA, Kwara State.

“Both suspects have confessed to their roles in the crime, including providing phone numbers of numerous potential victims and issuing threats to extort money,” the statement added.

The state Commissioner of Police, Victor Olaiya, commended the officers for their swift response and reaffirmed the command’s commitment to tackling crime.

The PPRO said that all the suspects have been charged to court and remanded in the federal correctional facility in the state.

The police said all four suspects have been charged to court and remanded in a federal correctional facility.