The Nigerian Army has apprehended 66 suspected bandits, kidnappers, and gunrunners operating around the Northern parts of the country.
Four Special Forces Command, Doma, Major General Gadzama Ali disclose this while Parading the suspects in Doma Local Government Area of the North Central Nasasrawa State.
Major General Ali said that seven Personnel of the Nigerian Army lost their lives during the operation.
He stated that ”among the 66 captured suspect, 41 members of were from the Terwase alias Gana’s criminal gang including the Chief priest who was allegedly involved in preparing charms for the criminals.”
According to Major General Ali, the arrest of Gana’s 41 members have reached to the total number of 119 since the death of the gang leader in September this year.
He further said that suspected notorious kidnappers’ kingpins Abdulkareem Sadiq and Momoh who were allegedly responsible for the killing of a staff of the Department of State Services, DSS, were captured during the operation along Okpele – Okene – Lokoja road in Kogi State.
Major General Gadzama explained that on the directive of the Chief of Army Staff, the command launched Operation Nut Cracker Two where it cleared dreaded bandit camps in Niger, Kaduna, and Zamfara States.
He stated that the operation also ”led to the recovery of over 200 cows and the killing of 18 bandits and their informants.”
The Army Commander however called on Governors especially in the North Central Geopolitical Zone to emulate Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi for giving them maximum support to fight criminal activities in the areas.
Items recovered from the suspects were two AK 47 rifles, cartridges, charms, and one point two million Naira cash.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
