Soldier poses as courier to arrest suspected kidnapper collecting N200,000 ransom in Nasarawa

Troops of Operation Whirl Stroke and DSS operatives have arrested a suspected kidnapper, Mukaila Iliyasu, in Nasarawa State while he was collecting a N200,000 ransom from a woman he had threatened to abduct.

According to Daily Trust, troops of the Nigerian Army, working with operatives of the Department of State Services, have arrested a suspected kidnapper while he was collecting ransom from a female resident of Nasarawa State, according to a statement by the Joint Task Force Operation Whirl Stroke.

The suspect, Mukaila Iliyasu, was arrested at Akwaba in Eggon Local Government Area by troops of Sector 2 of the task force and DSS personnel, following intelligence that he had threatened to abduct the woman unless she paid ₦200,000.

The task force’s Acting Media Information Officer, Lieutenant Ahmad Zubairu Zubairu, said in the statement that DSS operatives alerted the military to the threat on October 29. To trap the suspect, a soldier went undercover posing as the person delivering the ransom. Iliyasu was apprehended while collecting the money, and the ₦200,000 was recovered.

He has been handed over to the DSS for further investigation and possible prosecution.

The Force Commander of Operation Whirl Stroke and General Officer Commanding 5 Division, Major General Moses Kolo Gara, praised the troops and DSS operatives for their “professionalism, courage and effective coordination,” and urged them to sustain collaboration and strengthen intelligence sharing to tackle kidnapping and other security threats.