Police Arrest Kidnappers, Rescue Victim, Recover Fake Dollars in Jigawa
By Mika’il Tsoho, Dutse
The Jigawa State Police Command has recorded a major breakthrough in its ongoing efforts to combat crime and criminality across the state, successfully dismantling a kidnapping syndicate operating around the Garki and Sule Tankarkar axis, which had been terrorizing communities in both Kano and Jigawa States.
The Commissioner of Police, Jigawa State Command, CP Ahmed Tijjani Abdullahi, disclosed this while briefing journalists at the Police Headquarters in Dutse on the command’s recent achievements.
According to him, on 16th May 2025, at about 2:00 a.m., intelligence gathered by the command indicated that a group of armed men—about twelve in number and riding on five motorcycles—stormed the residence of one Hajiya Hajara, an 80-year-old woman from Minjibir Local Government Area of Kano State. The suspects forcefully abducted the victim and attempted to pass through Jigawa State with her.
Acting swiftly on the intelligence, police personnel in collaboration with local security outfits launched a manhunt in the areas between Danzomo and Medi villages of Sule Tankarkar and Garki LGAs. During the operation, the security team engaged the suspects in a fierce gun duel.
Five members of the kidnapping syndicate were neutralized in the encounter, while five others were arrested, including the gang leader, identified as Yahya, a 35-year-old man from Katore Fulani settlement in Garki LGA, who sustained a gunshot injury to his leg.
The police also recovered several weapons and items during the operation. These include two AK-47 rifles, one multipurpose machine gun, fourteen rounds of live ammunition, two motorcycles believed to have been used by the suspects, and three mobile phones suspected to belong to either the victims or the criminals.
“Most importantly,” CP Abdullahi said, “the kidnapped victim was rescued unhurt and has since been reunited with her family. A medical examination confirmed that she is in stable condition.”
In a separate incident, the Police Command also apprehended a group of suspected fraudsters in Birnin Kudu Local Government Area.
At about 5:00 p.m. on the same day, two young men—Yusuf Adamu, 25, of Dingu village, Ningi LGA, Bauchi State, and Sadiq Abdullahi, 25, of Kofar Ruwa quarters, Kano State—reported to the B/Kudu Division that they had been lured into the bush by some unknown individuals under the pretense of exchanging U.S. dollars for Nigerian currency.
Following the report, detectives attached to B/Kudu Division, in collaboration with a local vigilante group known as Yan Bulala, swiftly responded and arrested four suspects: Halilu Da’u (25), Abubakar Abdullahi (20), Muazu Aliyu (25), and Mu’azu Garba (21), all of Sundumina town in B/Kudu LGA.
They were found in possession of 163 counterfeit $100 notes and two genuine $100 bills. Upon interrogation, the suspects confessed to being part of a fraud syndicate operating within Birnin Kudu and surrounding areas. The case is currently under investigation.
