The FCT Police Command said it has busted a kidnap syndicate operating between Abuja and Niger State, and arrested six suspects, and recovered the full ransom paid for a young woman abducted in Maitama.
The Commissioner of Police in the FCT, Ahmed Sanusi, who disclosed this at a media briefing in Abuja, said that the breakthrough followed a distress call on June 29, 2026 over the abduction of a lady in Maitama.
He said the command’s Violent Crime Response Unit tracking team was deployed immediately, as the kidnappers moved the victim out of Abuja to Kwan-kwashe Village, a remote settlement in Niger State, and demanded N20 million.
Sanusi said: “This they did without knowing that we were already hot on their trail.”
The family eventually paid N8.3 million and the victim was released on July 3. Police kept tracking.
On Sunday, operatives swooped on Suleja area of Niger State and arrested 6 members of the gang. Two of them, Sanusi revealed, are sons of the gang leader. Crime& Justice
The police said items recovered from the gang include N8.3 million cash — the ransom; 2 vehicles: Toyota Corolla SMK 559 FV and Toyota Camry YAB 712 NH, both fully tinted; 1 cutlass; 7 ear pods; several jewelleries; 5 phones, and 1 laptop.
The jewellery is suspected to belong to previous victims.
He said investigations showed the gang leader and one accomplice had been arrested before — in 2022 and 2019 — for the same offence.
“In spite of their previous arrest, both suspects returned to constitute this syndicate which has been operating along Kubwa Expressway, Maitama Federal Housing Road, and other locations within the FCT since 2024,” Sanusi said.
The suspects also confessed to several “one chance” operations, extorting about N12.8 million from female victims in recent months.
They will be charged to court after investigations.
In a related clearance operation on July 5, police, working with other security agencies, arrested 4 more suspects around Kwali, Abaji and Kuje Area Councils, including the Nago forest in Kuje.
One suspect led operatives to Zuba Motor Park where 42 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition were found hidden in his Volkswagen Golf used for commercial transport.
Police said one of the arrested men is an arms dealer supplying kidnappers and bandits across Niger, Kogi and Kaduna states.
He allegedly supplied over 20,000 rounds recently and collected N3 million.
Also recovered: codeine syrups, tramadol tablets, cannabis, 78 tablets of Exzole, torchlight, N170,000 cash, and a magazine with 6 rounds of 7.62mm ammo.
Sanusi said the ongoing operation is aimed at “dislodging kidnappers’ hideouts and smoking their caves” around FCT border communities.
The suspects and exhibits are in custody.