Police confirm arrest of Nyanya, Kuje bombings suspects

• ‘They were planning fresh attack on FCT’
• Falae’s alleged kidnappers for trial soon
• DSS arrests suspected abductors of
Vanguard columnist

The Inspector General of Police ss(IGP), Solomon Arase, has confirmed arrest of two persons with 12 bombs, suspected to have also masterminded the bombings in Kuje and Nyanya that killed about 20 people and injured others on October 2, 2015.

Also, the police boss said five people suspected to be members of an eight-man gang that kidnapped former Secretary to the Federal Government, Chief Olu Falae, will be arraigned in court in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

Similarly, the Department of State Security (DSS) in Rivers State has arrested four suspects in connection with the abduction of Vanguard columnist, Donu Kogbara.

Parading the suspects yesterday in Port Harcourt, the State Director of the Service, Ibrahim Ngoshe, said they were part of a 13-man gang that kidnapped Kogbara on August 30 this year in front of her house in Nkpogu axis of Port Harcourt.

Ngoshe disclosed that the suspects, according to preliminary investigations, had been involved in various abductions in state. The DSS official called on members of the public to provide useful information that would aid in tackling insecurity across the state. He said items recovered from the suspected kidnappers include a pump action gun and some ammunition.

Meanwhile, the police leadership has been meeting to appraise the preparedness of the security organization towards ensuring hitch-free gubernatorial elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states.

Arase, who revealed the arrest of the suspected bomberss yesterday at the meeting of strategic police managers in Abuja, said the two terrorists, both in their 20s from Okene in Kogi State, were arrested with bombs and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) while planning another attack in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

We confirm that the Police have arrested two terror elements that undertook the fatal operation. They are Abdulazeez Muhazab (27) and Isiaka Salihu (25), both from Okene, Kogi State. The arrest of these suspects foiled another attempt by the terrorists to undertake another attack in the FCT.
“Recovered from them were 12 already prepared and primed Home Made Explosives (HME) concealed in 12 Fayrouz soft drink cans, 28 pieces of electric detonators and huge quantities of IED-making materials. The suspects are aiding detail police investigations into their broad terror network and will be brought to deserved justice,” he said.

According to Arase, the meeting is intended to strengthen professional interaction and encourage an in-house peer review mechanism as a strategy to sharpen ability of strategic police managers to carry out their duties, as well as appraise the security situation in the country with a view to “evaluating police performance, identify gaps and evolve new strategies that will restore police primacy within the criminal justice framework”.

Arase said besides taking a critical look at how the strategic policing plan he initiated on assumption of office toward ensuring enhanced service delivery to restore citizens trust in the police, “the conference is to review our preparations towards the gubernatorial elections scheduled for 21st November 2015 in Kogi State and 5th December, 2015 in Bayelsa State”.

2 The IGP also revealed that the police had arrested five of the eight-man gang that kidnapped Falae in Ondo state last month, and that the suspects have made useful confessions, and would be arraigned in court in Akure where the crime was committed.

He gave their names as Abubakar Auta, Idris Lawan, Umar Ibrahim, Masahudu Muhammed and Bello Tanu.
“The suspects who operate a state-wide kidnap ring were arrested at their hideouts in Niger, Ekiti and Ondo states respectively. Items recovered from them include the Bajaj motorcycle used to transport the victim, cash sum of N823,990.00 which was part of the ransom allegedly received. All the arrested suspects have made confessional statements highlighting details of the operations and their individual roles,” Arase said.

The Department of State Services (DSS) on Monday paraded two youths alleged to be members of the gang that kidnapped Falae. The two, in their confessional statements, said their leader had made away with the ransom money they collected.