- By Halimah Olamide
The Nasarawa State Police Command has announced the arrest of three fake officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in the Nasarawa Local Government Area of the State.
This was contained in a press statement in Lafia on Wednesday by the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Ramhan Nansel.
According to Nansel, the suspects who had been disturbing the peace of residents of the area recently launched an attack around the Federal Polytechnic in the Nasarawa LGA where they robbed people of their belongings and subsequently abducted a National Diploma student of the institution, Adudu Kingsley.
He further explained that the victim was released and the suspects arrested following painstaking efforts by officers of the command.
“On 17/04/2024 at about 1545hrs, a distress call was received that four individuals posing as the EFCC personnel, using a Toyota Corolla, green in colour, with registration number, Abuja YAB 509 TT, robbed some students of the Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa at Samakwe Lodge behind Government College, Nasarawa LGA and abducted one Adudu Kingsley, an ND II Student of the same Polytechnic.
“Reacting to the unsavoury development, police operatives gave the suspects a hot chase and a roadblock was mounted at the Laminga junction to stop the suspects from escaping with the victim, but they hit the barrier and fled.
“Furthermore, police operatives at Anguwan Madugu were contacted to mount another roadblock, which the suspects sighted from a distance, abandoned their operational vehicle and the abducted student and fled.
“Luck ran out of one of the suspects as he was caught and beaten mercilessly by a mob before the arrival of the police while others fled. The suspect was rescued from the mob by the police and rushed to the Primary Health Care, Laminga, where he died while receiving treatment.”
However, it was stated that the operational vehicle of the suspects was recovered and taken to the station where a search was conducted and two identification cards identifying the fleeing members of the syndicate were recovered.
“A follow-up investigation into the case led to the arrest of three other members of the gang namely: Hyelda Aliyu Ibrahim, Henry Patrick Okwu and Shuaibu Abubakar (the operational driver of the syndicate) all males of Custom Quarters and Up Market area of Masaka where one iPhone 12 Promax, Huawei and one Tecno Spark 5 earlier robbed from some of their victims and fake EFCC ID cards were recovered from them as exhibits.
“The suspects have confessed to being the syndicate responsible for robbing and terrorising student areas in Keffi and Nasarawa LGAs. Efforts are ongoing to arrest one identified suspect who is at large.
Also, victims of their nefarious activities have come forward and identified the suspects.”
Nansel added that the Commissioner of Police, CP Umar Nadada, had ordered the transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Lafia, while assuring the public that the suspects would be charged to court for prosecution upon the conclusion of an investigation into the matter.