Worried by the spate of kidnapping incidents perpetrated by criminal elements across the states, the Department of State Security Service, on a tactical mission, arrested six member gang, who are responsible for the kidnapping of two Catholics nuns in Ondo states, even as it made several other remarkable arrests across the country.
According to a statement signed by one Tony Opuiyo of the DSS, "on June 8, 2016, one Reuben Akinbehinje aka Chairman, the ring-leader of a notorious kidnap syndicate, was arrested by the DSS in Akure, Ondo State, along with five other members of his gang namely; John Imoleayo Uche, Seun Lajuwon, Seun Iseoluwa Akintayo, Lateef Fayemi Hammed and Saheed Oyewo.
The statement further noted that the Akinbehinje gang has been the brain behind the kidnap of two Catholic nuns in the state and other criminalities such as armed robbery, hijack and diversion of fuel tankers and cult-related activities in Ondo, Oyo, Osun, Lagos and Kwara States.
Similarly, the Service also arrested one Ifeanyi Michael Onyike, a suspected kidnap kingpin at D-line, Port Harcourt in Rivers State on June 12.
Onyike was involved in the kidnap of Ebere Chinda, wife to Igo Chinda, the personal assistant to the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi.
On June 25, in one of the North-Western States, one Sani Abdullahi, and his three accomplices, namely Rufai Tukur AbdullahI, Najeeb Abubakar and Abdullahi Ahmed, were apprehended by the Service.
The group had concluded arrangements to embark on serial kidnap of high-value targets in Katsina State, before their arrest. The gang has hitherto been terrorizing the North-Western States of Kano, Katsina, Kebbi and Zamfara.
Meanwhile, the DSS had also arrested one Kabiru Shuaibu, the alleged ring-leader of a kidnap gang, comprising his accomplices namely: Haruna Saleh, Tukur Shuaibu and Abdulmumuni Adamuna, on June 7, along Murtala Muhammad Bridge, along Lokoja-Abuja Highway, in Lokoja, Kogi State.
The suspects were part of a criminal gang which has been terrorizing innocent citizens in the Northern region of the Federation.
The service noted that during their arrest, a locally-made pistol, seven cartridges, 14 mobile phones and six hundred and fifteen thousand naira (N615,000) were recovered on them.