A suspected kidnapper identified as Mukaila Iliyasu was arrested by security personnel who disguised as civilians while delivering a ₦200,000 ransom earlier demanded from a woman under threat of abduction in Nasarawa State.
The security personnel presented the ransom at a location, and the suspect was arrested at Akwaba, in Eggon Local Government Area of the state during a coordinated operation involving troops of the Nigerian Army and operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).
According to the military, “security agencies received intelligence that the suspected kidnapper, Iliyasu, had threatened a female resident with abduction unless she paid him ₦200,000.”
Following this, the DSS reportedly alerted troops of Sector 2, Joint Task Force Operation Whirl Stroke, on October 29, and organised an operation to locate the suspect and apprehend him.
A soldier was subsequently deployed undercover, posing as the person assigned to bring the demanded money, and Iliyasu was arrested at the point of collecting the ₦200,000, which security personnel recovered during the operation.
The Acting Media Information Officer of Operation Whirl Stroke, Lieutenant Ahmad Zubairu Zubairu, confirmed the development in a statement and described the arrest as an intelligence-driven operation that successfully disrupted a potential kidnapping before the suspect could carry out the threat.
The arrested suspect, Iliyasu, was transferred to DSS custody for further investigation and possible prosecution.
Reacting to the operation, the Force Commander of Operation Whirl Stroke and General Officer Commanding 5 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Moses Kolo Gara, commended the soldiers and DSS personnel for their professionalism and effective coordination and urged security agencies to maintain the level of cooperation that made the operation possible, particularly through improved intelligence sharing and joint efforts against kidnapping and other criminal activities.