The Police Public Relations Officer in the State, Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed in a statement on Sunday, said a 62-year-old victim, Sheu Anafi was also rescued.
The arrest, Oyeyemi said, followed a report lodged at Warewa divisional headquarters by a commercial driver that he was attacked by gunmen while plying an untarred road to avoid traffic on the long bridge.
According to the police spokesman, the driver was coming from Ilorin in his Ford commercial car with registration number LRN 596 ZY and had seven passengers in the vehicle.
“While driving through the said access road, they were attacked by some unknown gunmen who made all the passengers run into different directions in the nearby bush and a passenger was abducted in the process,” Oyeyemi said.
Following the report, the Divisional Police Officer, Warewa division, Abdul Fatai Ogunsanya, led a joint operation comprising the Command’s tactical teams, local Vigilantes, So-Safe Corps and men of the Oodua Peoples Congress for the bush combing in search of the abducted man.
“Their efforts yielded positive results when the hideout of the kidnappers was located and the security operatives engaged them in a gun battle.
“At the end of the encounter, one of the kidnappers Ibraheem Abubakar who claimed to have come from Sabonganmu-Bompai road, Kano state, was arrested while others escaped with varying degrees of gunshot injuries, and the victim, 62 years old Sheu Anafi was rescued unhurt,” the police spokesman added.
After the arrest, the suspect was said to have confessed to being a member of a seven-man gang terrorising the stretch of the Long Bridge in recent times.
Reacting to the arrest, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Lanre Bankole, ordered the immediate transfer of the suspect to the Criminal Investigation Department for a discreet investigation.
He equally appealed to members of the public, especially hospitals, to inform the police of anyone with a gunshot injury in their area.
