The long inter-agency rivalry between the two major security outfits in the country – the Nigeria Police Force and Department of State Services (DSS) – was brought to the fore again yesterday as barely 24 hours after the DSS paraded two suspects in connection with the abduction of the elder statesman, Chief Olu Falae, the police yesterday said they had five suspects in their custody.
Falae, a former presidential candidate, was kidnapped by armed men who stormed his farm last September 21, 2015. He was released three days later after his family parted with a ransom of N5 million.
The DSS on Monday paraded two suspects, Babawuro Kato and Abdullahi Usman, who claimed that the abduction of Falae was carried out by a three-man gang, adding however that the mastermind, one Dantito, escaped with the N5 million ransom collected from Falae’s relatives.
Abubakar Garba, who addressed the press on behalf of the DSS, said two of the abductors were arrested by the department’s operatives on October 15 at J. Zebra Hotel along Ganaja Road in Lokoja, Kogi State.
But the Inspector General of Police (IG) Solomon Arase, during the monthly meeting of top police officers at the force headquarters in Abuja yesterday, said the police apprehended five of the eight-man gang which abducted the elder statesman.
He named the suspects to include Abubakar Auta, Idris Lawan, Umar Ibrahim, Masahudu Mohammed and Bello Tanu whom he said operated a statewide kidnapping ring.
The suspects, the IG added, were arrested at their hideouts in Niger, Ekiti and Ondo States respectively.
According to the police boss, items recovered from them included the Bajaj motorcycle used to transport their victim and N823,990 cash which was part of the N5 million ransom paid to them.
“All the arrested suspects have made confessional statements highlighting details of the operations and their individual roles. As I address you now, the suspects are being charged to court in Akure, Ondo State,” Arase stated.
When asked if the suspects paraded by the DSS were part of the kidnap gang arrested by the police, Arase stated that he had requested the transfer of the two suspects from the Director-General of the DSS.
He said: “I said there was an eight-man gang and from the investigations we have carried out so far, those two that were paraded yesterday (Monday) by the State Security Service were part of that eight-man gang.
“I have written a letter to the DG, SSS that we are arraigning the suspects and once they bring the two suspects, we can amend the charge."
Arase also said police have arrested two masterminds of the blasts at Nyanya and Kuje, two satellite towns in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that killed 20 people and injured scores of others on October 2.
The IG also stated that the police foiled another plot by the suspects, Abdulazeez Muhazab, 27, and Isiaka Salihu, 25, to carry out another bomb attack in the FCT.
According to him, the police recovered 12 primed home made explosives concealed in Fayrouz soft drink cans, 28 pieces of electric detonators and huge quantities of explosive materials.
He said the police were collaborating with other security agencies to ensure public safety and called for the cooperation of all segments of the public.
Arase stated that the conference was convened to strengthen professional interaction and encourage an in-house peer review mechanism as a strategy towards sharpening the ability of strategic police managers in the discharge of their “complex and challenging statutory mandate”.
He stated that the conference would also review police preparations for the governorship elections scheduled for November 21 in Kogi State and December 5 in Bayelsa State.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/falaes-abduction-confusion-as-police-dss-parade-two-sets-of-suspects/222714/
