” Urges Governor Bago to investigate * Police, Justice Commissioner react
By Aideloje Ojo, Minna
The Chairman of Mokwa Vigilante Group in Niger State, Usman Mohammed, has appealed to the state Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago to institute an investigative panel to unravel the circumstances surrounding the non-prosecution of a notorious kidnapping kingpin, Abubakar Abule, arrested by his men and villagers in connection with a kidnap incident in the town and handed over to the police in March 2024.
Mohammed stated this in a viral video published online now trending in Minna. He claimed that the vigilantes responding to distress calls in the town last year, arrested one kidnapper Mohammed Dansajo at the scene of operation, through whom other members of his gang were arrested.
According to him, “We traced some of the kidnappers through the phone of one of them that fell on the scene. The names of those we arrested are Mohammed Dansajo, Dangi Mohammed, Abubakar Abule, Bello Mohammed and another person whose name I have forgotten.”
He expressed concern that when the suspects were to be arraigned in court, only three of the five individuals were listed for trial adding that to his surprise, only one of the suspects was present in court during the mention of the case. He said that when the Judge asked about the remaining suspects, the police responded that there was no space in the vehicle for others except the one suspect. According to the vigilante chairman, the judge said he will not commence trial until all the accused persons were brought to court and adjourned the case
Mohammed also alleged that on the adjourned date, the police dropped Abubakar Abule who had earlier identified some informants supplying the kidnappers food and other logistics from the charge list, adding that, “Relevant authorities should pick up the case to know why the police dropped Abule from the case.”
NEXTER findings revealed that the video has unsettled the Police, Judiciary and the Niger State Ministry of Justice. However, the state Police command and the Ministry of Justice have in separate rejoinders or reaction to the video, debunked some of the claims by the vigilante chairman while tactically avoiding the issue about dropping Abubakar Abule from arraignment in court and his whereabouts raised by the vigilante boss. According to the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Niger state Police Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, out of the five suspects named by the vigilante chairman, three were involved in the Mokwa kidnapping incident while the other two were involved in another criminal case of conspiracy and kidnapping adding that they have all been charged to court in FIR. According to him, “The three suspects were arraigned before Chief Magistrate Court I and reassigned to Court 7 for prosecution accordingly.”
Also reacting, the state Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Nasir Muazu, explained that the ministry of Justice is not aware of the arrest of five suspected kidnappers in connection with the Mokwa case adding that the police forwarded the case file of two suspects in connection to the Mokwa case but later added another suspect to make the number three. “We do not interfere with police investigations, we only review the files forwarded to us for possible prosecution. They submitted a case file containing only three names and the ministry issued legal advice accordingly”.
