Notorious kidnapper abducted, released after paying N1.55m ransom

A notorious kidnapper, Mohammed Ahmadu, got a taste of his own medicine when he was abducted by another group of kidnappers.

Ahmadu, who is notorious for terrorising commuters on the Abuja-Kaduna and Abuja-Lokoja highways, had to part with N1.55 million before he was released.

According to Frank Mba, Nigeria Police Force Public Relations Officer who paraded Ahmadu alongside 17 other suspects at the Force headquarters in Abuja, Ahmadu had visited another gang’s hideout to sell ammunition when he was kidnapped and shot in the arm when he hesitated to pay the ransom, and also boasted that bullets would not penetrate him.

Mba also gave the name of the leader of the gang that abducted Ahmadu as Abubakar Umaru aka Buba Bargu, 35.

Mba said Umaru, who was notorious for always killing his victims, took over the leadership of the crime syndicate after the gang leader and his deputy were neutralised by security operatives.

Mba further disclosed that Ahmadu boasted he could not be shot and Umaru, who had string links with a major terror group in the North, shot him to prove how serious he was.

He stated: “Ahmadu is also known as ‘Confirm’ because he was a reputed marksman in the underworld. Yet, he was kidnapped and released after he paid N1.55m.”

Ahmadu, while speaking to journalists, said he had been in so many kidnap operations that he he had lost count, and revealed that he was abducted after supplying 90 rounds of live ammunition to Umaru.

Read also: RIVERS: Notorious kidnapper, gang declared wanted

He said Umaru was associated with the Boko Haram sect, recalling that there was a time his own gang kidnapped 20 victims at a time.

He stated: “I have saved up to N15m from these nefarious activities. I witnessed an operation where Buba (Umaru) kidnapped 55 persons from a luxurious bus at a time.”

On his part, Umaru admitted that he has been into kidnapping for three years and that he only operated on highways.

“I broke up with Buji to form my own kidnap gang because of unfairness in sharing ransom money”, Umaru said.

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