…Reovers Rifles and ₦6.9m Cash
A member of a Seven-man kidnap gang suspect, Mohammed Tahir of Barkin Ladi in Plateau State, has been arrested by the police and is helping investigators at the Nasarawa State Criminal Investigation Department on how to get other members of the gang arrested.
Luck ran out of Mohammed Tahir when he was arrested after the vehicle in which he and other members of the gang were travelling in involved in a lone accident along Agwan Mayo-Keffi-Akwanga road en route to Jos to share the money after collecting ransom
A press statement by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Nasarawa State command, Ramhan Nansel, on Monday, said the arrest of Mohammed Tahir followed a lone accident involving an Opel Vectra vehicle with registration number PLATEAU BLD 566 ST, where two occupants fled immediately after the accident.
Nansel said the police operatives attached to Garaku division, upon receipt of a distress call from Agwan Mayo community on 18/8/2025 at about 0908hrs of a lone car crash near VIO checkpoint, said two occupants fled from the vehicle immediately after the crash.
He said that upon arrival, the community members had gathered at the scene of the accident, where a vigilant VIO officer handed a G3 rifle and cash earlier recovered to the police.
The police image maker disclosed that when the accidented vehicle was towed to the police station and one AK 47 rifle, one Type 06 rifle, G3 rifle magazines and 57 rounds of ammunition and N6 908.150 million were recovered when a search was conducted.
The police said that a manhunt was launched by a combined team of security operatives during which they arrested one Mohammed Tahir, and upon interrogation confessed to being a member of a 7-man kidnap gang that kidnapped the Nyanya lawyer whose ransom was collected.
The PPRO stated that the commissioner of police, CP Shettima Jauro Mohammed, has since directed the suspect and the recovered items to be moved to the state Criminal Investigation Department in Lafia.
“On 18/08/2025 at about 0908hrs, police operatives attached to Garaku Division received a distress call from Angwan Mayo community regarding a lone crash near the VIO checkpoint. Two occupants of an Opel Vectra vehicle with registration number PLATEAU BLD 566 ST reportedly fled the scene immediately after the accident.
“Upon arrival, operatives discovered that members of the public had already gathered, while a vigilant VIO officer handed over a G3 rifle and cash earlier recovered from the accident vehicle.
“The accident vehicle was immediately towed to the police station, where a thorough search was conducted and led to the recovery of the following exhibits:
One (1) AK-47 rifle. One (1) Type 06 rifle. One (1) G3 rifle, Three Magazines, and Fifty-Seven (57) rounds of live ammunition and cash totalling ₦6,908,150 (Six Million, Nine Hundred and Eight Thousand, One Hundred and Fifty Naira only)’
“Reacting swiftly, the Police, in collaboration with the Military, launched an intensive manhunt for the fleeing suspects. One of them, later identified as Mohammed Tahir, male, of Barkin Ladi, Plateau State, was arrested after escaping into the forest.
“During interrogation, the suspect confessed to being a member of a seven-man kidnap gang responsible for the abduction of a lawyer in Nyanya, Abuja (FCT), from whom ransom was collected. He further admitted that he and another accomplice were on their way to Jos to share the proceeds of the crime before the accident occurred. Efforts are ongoing to apprehend the remaining suspects at large”.
The Nasarawa State Police Command reassures the public of its unwavering commitment to working with sister security agencies to rid the state and its environs of crime and criminality. He praised members of the public for their vigilance and urged them to keep supporting the police and other security agencies in the state
