6 Fulani herdsmen docked for kidnapping, robbery

By Ifeanyi Okolie

Six Fulani herdsmen arrested by the Inspector General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team, IRT, for allegedly kidnapping and terrorizing businessmen, including residents of Okeho, a border town in Oyo State, have been charged to court.

The suspects, identified as Abdullahi Mohammed, 35; Abubakar Abubakar, 28; Damanya Gambo, 30; Usman Saidu, 30; Usman Idris, 35; and Hassan Maikudi,30, were yesterday arraigned before an Oyo State High Court in Ibadan, on a four-count charge bordering on armed robbery, kidnapping and illegal possession of charms.

Vanguard had reported last November how the suspects, who were alleged to have kidnapped prominent residents, were rounded up at Okeho, a town bordering Benin Republic in Oyo State.

It was gathered that the Inspector General, Solomon Arase, after receiving several complaints of the gang’s activities, had deployed the IRT operatives, led by CSP Abba Kyari, to the area and they apprehended the suspects from their various hideouts.

One of the suspects, Maikudi, was said to have led the kidnappers to abduct his father and a ransom of N1.5 million was paid.

Justice M. L. Abimbola, who presided over the matter, ordered the suspects remanded in prison custody after taking their not guilty plea, and adjourned to February 2 for hearing.