Police kill four bandits, arrest female gun-runner in Kaduna

Kidnappers free Plateau Catholic priest

The Special Tactical Squad (STS), Force Headquarters (FHQ), Abuja, in conjunction with Operation Yaki, Kaduna State Command, has neutralised four bandits and arrested a woman supplying firearms and ammunition to criminals.

Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Kaduna Command, DSP Muhammad Jalige, said in the morning of June 15, 2022, while on the trail of bandits, the operatives intercepted their target along Saminaka–Jos expressway in a vehicle driven by 31-year-old James Dawi of Vom town in Jos South Local Council.

He added: “The bandits, on sensing an unavoidable danger in their way to deliver some dangerous weapons to their cohorts, immediately engaged the operatives, firing sporadically. But the operatives were able to terminally injure four suspects, who were later evacuated to Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital, Kaduna, where they were pronounced dead by a medical doctor.

“In the encounter, which lasted about 30 minutes, the firepower of the police forced them to retreat into the forest with bullet wounds.”

The Guardian gathered that the operation led to the arrest of a female accomplice, who, during the investigation, confessed to being supplying arms and ammunition to bandits within Kaduna.

Meanwhile, a discreet investigation into the case has been instituted to unravel the identities of other criminals as well as the source of the dangerous weapons recovered, to avert future occurrence.

THE abducted Parish Priest of St. Anthony Catholic Church, Angware, Jos East Local Council of Plateau State, Rev. Fr. James Kantoma, has been released.

The Guardian gathered that the kidnappers released Kantoma on Wednesday evening.

But the family was silent on whether any ransom was paid.

Kantoma, who doubles as the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Angware, was kidnapped on Monday morning.

Plateau State Chairman of CAN, Rev. Fr. Polycarp Lubo, said on Wednesday morning that the kidnappers were demanding N50 million to free the victim.

What transpired between the family and the kidnappers, leading to the victim’s release on the evening of the same Wednesday, has been kept under wraps. The last information made public was that the family was negotiating with the abductors to reduce the ransom.