- The police have launched a massive operation to rescue the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Musa Rambo, who was abducted on the Barde-Jos Road by gunmen.
The police have launched a massive operation to rescue the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Musa Rambo, who was abducted on the Barde-Jos Road by gunmen.
Rambo, who is the Suleja Area Commander in Niger State, was kidnapped on Saturday while travelling alone in mufti in his car.
His abductors were said to have demanded N50m ransom from his family.
The force spokesman, DCP Frank Mba, told one of our correspondents in Abuja on Sunday that special forces, including intelligence operatives, had been deployed to search and rescue the ACP.
He expressed confidence that Rambo would be rescued soon, noting that the question of ransom payment did not arise.
Mba stated, “Rambo was travelling in his civil clothes and in his private car without an escort or any security at the time of the incident. He was not targeted as a cop; it was purely an opportunistic crime maliciously targeted at citizens plying that particular road.
“Meanwhile, the police have commenced a massive operational and investigative manhunt aimed at his safe rescue and the arrest of his abductors.”
The Kaduna State Police Command had earlier confirmed Rambo’s abduction.
The spokesman for the command, DSP Yakubu Sabo, who confirmed the incident, said contact had been made with the kidnappers, who asked for ransom.
Sabo said, “On October 19, 2019, around 3.30pm, a team of the Operation Safe Heaven along the Barde- Jos Road reported that an ash Nissan Murano with number plate KRD 753 BT with a police ID card bearing ACP Musa Rambo, the incumbent Area Commander of Suleja, was found.
“The vehicle was found abandoned around the Kanock Bridge, a border area between Kaduna and Nasarawa states, and the occupant was suspected to have been kidnapped along the Barde-Jos Road by the Kanock forest.
“Contact has been made with the kidnappers, who are asking for ransom. Efforts are on to rescue the victim and arrest the culprits.”
The spokesman said the state Commissioner of Police, Ali Janga, had assured members of the public that the command was doing everything possible to secure the release of the victim.
On what the force was doing to check incidents of abduction across the country, Mba stated that various strategies were being implemented, which he noted had resulted in the arrest of over 1,151 high profile suspects nationwide between August and September.
He explained that over 216 kidnap suspects were in custody, while 231 victims had been safely rescued and reunited with their families.
Meanwhile, gunmen suspected to be assassins have killed a retired policeman identified as Paul Edike.
The body of the deceased was found along the Warri/Benin Road in Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Paul was abducted on his way back from a function.
A relative of the deceased, Joseph Edike, in a chat with our correspondent, said, “Those who witnessed the incident reported to the family shortly after the kidnap.
“Hours later, the lifeless body of our father was found along the Warri/Benin Road. Our dad was kidnapped on his way home on Friday evening. The driver came to tell us later in the night that his lifeless body was found along the Warri/Benin Road.
“We suspect that it was an assassination in relation to the case our brother was having with some persons abroad. Since the case started, threat messages and calls had been made to us, but we never knew it would get to this level.”
The remains of the deceased had been deposited in the morgue for further action and report to the police.
The family member stressed that they were careful about involving the police because of the issues the deceased had with some people.
When contacted on Sunday, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Adeyinka Adeleke, said, “I am not aware of the matter. Since they didn’t report to the police, how would I know that their brother was kidnapped and killed?”
