Gunmen attack Catholic School in Kaduna, kidnap seminarians 

 

.Police nab 48 suspected criminals  over kidnapping, homicide

.Don’t drag with kidnappers-FPRO warns 

Jonas Ezieke, Abuja

 

 

A yet-to-be ascertained number of students have been kidnapped after gunmen suspected to be bandits attacked St. Albert the Great Institute of Philosophy.

The catholic seminary school is located in the Fayit community of Kagoma Chiefdom, Jama’a local government area of Kaduna state, and is affiliated with the Catholic Church.

 

The gunmen stormed the school on Monday night at approximately 8 p.m. and immediately went on a shooting spree, causing widespread fear and panic in the surrounding community.

 

During the attack, some students were abducted, while others sustained varying degrees of injuries. The shootings, which had been going on for approximately an hour, came to an abrupt halt when local vigilantes intervened and chased the gunmen from the scene.

 

 

Meanwhile ,Operatives of the Inspector-General of Police IGP Usman Alkali Baba’s Intelligence Response Team IRT of the Nigeria Police Force on Tuesday paraded 48 criminal suspects over crimes including kidnappings, culpable homicide, armed robbery and car theft.

 

Parading the suspects before newsmen at the IRT office in Guzape in Abuja the nation’s capital the Force Public Relations Officer CP Frank Mba and the Commander of the IRT Mr Tunji Disu advised that the public particularly victims of kidnap for ransom not to drag with the kidnappers but to cooperate so as to be rescued by Police.

 

The Police authorities revealed that all the arrested and paraded suspects were criminally minded adults who had empirically been proven to have been linked with kidnap for ransom, culpable homicide, armed robbery and car theft.

 

One of the suspects Abubakar Harilu 36 was nabbed by the task team of the IRT for kidnapping and killing one Binta Mohammed 48 a cousin of his who gave him loans for the purchase of tricycles.

 

He was said to have lured his benefactor to some of his gang of kidnappers and instructed them to exhtort money from and kill her having failed to repay the loan she gave him as agreed.

 

But fortunately for her she escaped from the kidnappers in their hideout in Jigawa on the first day after her captivity and reported the matter to the Police which led to the trail and arrest of the suspect.

 

 

The Police IRT team also arrested and paraded two other kidnappers Salisu  Abdullahi 28,and Babangida Usman 21 who were said to belong to a very wicked kidnap for ransome gang that kidnapped a professor at ATBU Bauchi and one owner of a filling station in Kaduna State.

 

The same criminal gang group were also paraded for the kidnapping of a Catholic Priest Rev.Fr Tony Bawa who was later released by the gang amongst other crimes allegedly committed by them.

 

 

One of the victims of the kidnapping ring Chinedu was murdered by the gang while trying to wrestle with the leader of the gang and priest was said to have been kidnapped by the crime suspects at Kuchin Makaranta in the North West.

 

Also arrested and paraded by the Police team are three armed robbery suspects Abel Namfa 23, Nankum Wasiu 32 and Jonah Patrick 25. They were arrested by the Intelligence Response Team of the Police in Jos for robbing a man of his Toyota Corolla car and selling it to procure AK47 and other outlawed arms.

 

The gang was accused to have robbed innocent travellers of their possessions for over seven years and have all been imprisoned at one time or another before they were rearrested for robbery by IRT.

 

Some exhibits said to have been collected from the confessions made to the Police from the suspects include 1 GPMG, 3 AK47 rifles, 10 laptop computers and some other arms and live ammunitions.

 

The Force image maker who noted that most victims of kidnap for ransom are persons related to their captors had assured that the Police and other sister security agencies are not relenting on closing in on these criminally minded persons.

 

All the paraded suspects and many others he said would be charged to the nation’s law courts after investigations of these crimes by the Police authorities.