By Ngozi Uwujare
Operatives of Operation Zenda, a special unit of the Benue State Police Command, have arrested more than ten suspected armed robbers/ kidnappers in recent times.
The police said the arrested suspects have kidnapped over 20 victims.
The suspects were said to have raped their female victims, after which they abandoned the victims in the bush after collecting more than N2 million from them using their ATM cards. They then transferred the money to their own accounts, he noted. The suspects, he recalled, also demanded the sum of N10 million as ransom from the relatives of their abducted victims, many of who were kidnapped in the Zaki Biam axis, Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State.
The Benue State Commissioner of Police, Mr Wale Abass told Saturday Sun that the arrested suspects are a 28-man gang of armed robbers/ kidnappers who conducted deadly operations by blocking the Tariku/Otukpo Road where they have kidnapped and robbed victims of their valuable items. This was besides raping women who they later abandoned in the forest along the Zaki Biam Ukum axis. The suspected criminals also reportedly went away with the valuable items of the victims, including phones.
The police boss said he, on October 5, 2022, ordered the Commander of Operation Zenda, Justin Gbemndyer, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) and his team to storm the Taraku/Otukpo road. That was after the hoodlums had blocked the road, robbed another set of vehicles with passengers, collected their valuable items and wanted to use machetes to attack the victims in the forest.
He said on sighting the police operatives, the criminals opened fire on them but that the policemen courageously responded with superior fire power which resulted in a gun duel.
He explained that in the process, one of the armed robbers sustained gunshot injuries and was confirmed dead at the hospital while others escaped into the forest.
“We arrested one Febian Nyamhena, and Awusaa Kelvin, all of Alade Town in Benue State and recovered locally fabricated AK 47 rifles loaded with four rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition, fabricated pistol and cartridges in their hideout,” CP Abass said.
He added that on September 9, 2022 while men of Operation Zenda were at an observation point within the Zaki Biam axis, they received a distress call that some armed bandits under the leadership of one “Full Fire” had planned to assassinate one Lubem Akombo.
He said the police operatives swung into action and arrested two of the gang members in connection with those who wanted to assassinate the victim.
He gave the names of the arrested suspects as ChitaIhom, 28, and Shimangi Nyeriyo, 25. He noted that the police recovered a locally made barrel, ammunition and locally made pistol loaded with ten rounds of life cartridge from the criminals.
CP Abass explained further that on June 27 2022, there was also a gang that blocked the Otupko/Egugu Road and robbed a vehicle with ten passengers, collected all their phones, and transferred the victims’ money totalling over N2 million into their own account.
“They beat some of the victims who refused to cooperate with them. It was through information by the public that prompted the Operation Zenda to swing into action and have an encounter with them which prompted the robbers to escape inside the bush. When the operatives gave them a hot chase, two were shot dead with bullets while others gang members escaped with bullet wounds. In the process they rescued the victims and recovered AK 47rifles with ten rounds of ammunition.
“Earlier, on May 7, 2022, a gang had blocked the road along the Taracku/ Otukpo axis, and robbed a car with passengers. That was around 7.30pm. There was a heavy rain on the day, but the police immediately swung into action and encountered them. One was neutralised while others escaped with their ammunition. They abandoned their motorcycles at the scene of crime and only their shoes, torchlight and cartridges were recovered,” he said.
The police commissioner also recalled that on July 3, 2022 at the Makurdi axis, a gang of criminals also attempted to kidnap two victims. He said the gang had blocked the road and was about to commit the crime when one of the victims raised the alarm that alerted the people. This, he said prompted the police on patrol to give the suspects a hot chase, but they reportedly escaped from the scene.
“However, on August 20, 2022, the same gang also blocked a road along Otukpo/ Makurdi axis, and robbed seven victims who were going for their businesses of five motorcycles. The victims were crossed and told to lie down. The robbers collected all their phones, transferred over N750, 000 into their account. They also collected their ATM cards, withdrew the victims’ money and raped two female victims. They also demanded their pants
“It was when the police were alerted to the scene that the hoodlums escaped and abandoned one of their locally made pistols,” CP Abass said.
He said on September 2, 2022, the same gang made an attempt to rob a supermarket in Makurdi axis. He said there were ten gang members fully armed and that the gang wanted to rob a supermarket around 8.30 pm, but the security man raised the alarm and called police operatives.
“It was Operation Zenda who swung into action and arrested two suspects at the scene of the crime. Those arrested are Isaac Ortom, 23 years old and Abdullah Ibrahim, 29, both of whom reportedly confessed to the crime.
“On September 28, 2022 a gang attempted to rob four victims coming from the farm in Otupko axis. But members of vigilance groups and local hunters were contacted, and they engaged the criminals. The gang members fled into the forest with bullet wounds. The victims were also rescued,” he said.
CP Abass said the police operatives, vigilante groups and local hunters have raided the entire hideouts of the criminals.
In an encounter with Saturday Sun, one of the suspects, Fabian Nyamhena told the reporter: “I hail from Benue State. We are about 20 members of a gang of armed robbers and kidnappers. We terrorised the highway and blocked the highway along Taraku/Otukpo where we have robbed several vehicles and passengers and marched them inside our hideout. We collected their ATM cards and transferred their money into our accounts. We also raped the female victims. We held them hostage while we awaited the ransom from their relations. Once the ransom was paid, we released the victims and led them out of the forest.”
“The police operatives have encountered our gang members and killed over four gang members. We went and recruited other gang members from neighbouring states and bought arms and ammunitions for them, which we use to terrorise Makurdi Otupko/ Enugu Expressway. It was the vigilance group and local hunters who were giving us a headache while the police on patrol gave us a hot chase out of the community where we wanted to operate. We were arrested during our operation and we have confessed to the policemen,” he said.
Another suspect, Awuasaa Kelvin told the reporter: “I hail from Benue State. We have been involved in several armed robberies and kidnapping. I am the armourer who always keeps the arms and ammunition which we use for operations, to rob and kidnap and collect ransom of money from the victims. We always share our ransom.We wanted to carry out another operation when we were arrested by the police,” he said.
One of the victims, Joseph Ada also spoke with Saturday Sun. He said: “I am from Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State. I am a businessman. I was kidnapped and held hostage for three days. We were five victims in their hideout. We were blindfolded and our two legs were tied with ropes. They asked us to call our families for ransom. We were beaten to a state of coma and later they demanded N10 million from them. They collected our ATM, phones and PIN numbers. They then withdrew money from our accounts. But while the kidnappers were waiting for the ransom, the police operatives, vigilantes and local hunters shot into the air, which prompted the kidnappers to abandon us and run away. It was the police operatives who came and rescued us from their hideout.
“I was overwhelmed when I heard that some of the gang members were arrested by the police operatives during their operation. We want justice to be done. We were able to identify three of the suspects who kidnapped us on that day,” he stated.
CP Abass said that the arrested suspects will soon be charged to court.