BY SUNDAY SAMUEL—The Nasarawa State Police Command has recorded significant breakthroughs in its ongoing efforts to combat kidnapping and related crimes across the state, rescuing two victims and arresting a suspected kidnapper in separate operations.
On February 3, 2026, at about 3:10 p.m., operatives of the Anti-Robbery Squad, while on routine patrol, rescued one David O., a male resident of the Tudun Amba area of Lafia. The victim had boarded a commercial motorcycle from Lafia to Assakio when, upon reaching Kireyi Village, the motorcyclist allegedly diverted into a bush path and forcefully took him into the forest.
Acting on intelligence received during the patrol, police operatives immediately launched a search operation, leading to the victim’s rescue in the bush. The suspect fled the scene before the arrival of the operatives. The victim later disclosed that he had been taken to a kidnappers’ den and managed to escape shortly before the police arrived.
In a related development, operatives attached to the Gitata Division arrested one Jamilu Salisu of Ditsenma, Katsina State, in connection with the abduction of a 14-year-old Junior Secondary School (JSS 2) student of UBE Gitata.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect abducted the victim near a mosque in Gitata and took him into the forest. The police were alerted by a good Samaritan who sighted the suspect while escorting the victim towards a riverbank. Operatives swiftly mobilized to the location, arrested the suspect, and rescued the victim unhurt. One accomplice reportedly escaped and is currently at large.
The Commissioner of Police, CP Shetima Jauro Mohammed, has ordered an intensive manhunt for the fleeing suspect and directed that a thorough investigation be conducted into both cases.
