The Taraba State Police Command has announced the arrest of two suspected kidnappers and the recovery of an AK-47 rifle in Gassol local government council of the state.

In a statement issued on Friday, the command’s spokesperson, James Lashen Saminu, said operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad, working with local hunters, stormed a suspected kidnappers’ hideout in Mahadi Forest around 10:00 a.m. on August 13, 2025.

Those arrested were identified as Yahaya Umar, 20, of Gamu village, and Mohammed Umar, 47, of Belango village in Karim-Lamido council.

The suspects, according to the police, have confessed to being members of a kidnapping syndicate operating across Plateau and Taraba states.

Elated by the development, the Commissioner of Police, Betty Enekpen Isokpan Otimenyin, commended the operatives for their swift action and reaffirmed the command’s resolve to make Taraba safe.

She pleaded with residents not to relent in continuing to share credible information with the police and other security agencies to aid crime-fighting efforts in the state.