Caleb Onwe 
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, yesterday, offered a reward of up to N20 million for information leading to the arrest of two suspects said to be the brains behind the series of abductions in Abuja. Wike announced the bounty when the Commissioner of Police, Bennett Igweh, paraded 23 criminal suspects. Igweh said they were on the trail of two other criminals. He said they recovered N9 million, six AK-47 rifles, bullet- proof vests, and a walkie-talkie from them.
The immediate past Rivers State governor said: “You’re still looking for two among them, right? Okay, I will put money on them. “I have placed a N20 million bounty on the two of them. Anyone who finds them would get N20 million. “Fish them out, dead or alive. We will not give them breathing space just as they’ve not been giving us any breathing space.” He appealed to residents for support for law enforcement agencies in the effort to rid the capital of kidnapping and other criminalities. Usman Muhazu, Aliyu Mohammed, Auwal Lahiru, Rabiu Sani, Madina Abubakar, Jonah Elimelechi and Saminu Idris said to be members of the kidnap gang were arrested following a tip-off. They were arrested in Pyankasa, Tudun Wada, and Ketti village, FCT, in connection to the kidnap of 14 notable persons in the FCT.The CP said: “The kidnappers, who have been giving the FCT sleepless nights on our wanted list, have now been arrested.
“They are responsible for the kidnapping of five people at the Federal Mortgage Housing Estate, Kabusa, three persons in Ketti village, Fulani residence of Alhaji Sani.” Kidnapping has become rife in the Federal Capital and last month there was widespread outcry across the nation when five sisters were abducted near Abuja. The sisters were seized by armed men who burst into their home 25 kilometres from the nation’s capital city, a family member had told the AFP. She said the attackers killed one of the sisters, 21-year-old Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar, when a ransom deadline passed.
After public outrage over the sisters’ case, President Bola Tinubu condemned what he called the “recent spate of kidnappings and bandit attacks.” The Nigerian risk consultancy SBM Intelligence told AFP it had documented 283 people abducted in the Federal Capital Territory over the past year. Although the remaining sisters have since been released the manner of their freedom was marred by controversy as both the Police and the military laid claim to the success only for the girls’ families to go public that a sizeable ransom fee was paid to secure their freedom. Kidnapping for ransom has now become a major problem in the country, with criminal gangs targeting highways and apartments and even snatching pupils from schools, as was the case of the Apostolic Faith School whose pupils were taken from their school bus in Ekiti State late last month.
The pupils were reportedly heading to Emure-Ekiti when their bus was intercepted at Eporo-Ekiti. The pupils, a driver, and a teacher were kidnapped during the attack. Although the pupils and teacher have since been released and reunited with their families, however, the bus driver was not as lucky as he was killed and his body burnt by the abductors.
