Nasarawa Police Foil Kidnapping Plot, Arrest Four Suspects

Nasarawa State Police Command has foiled an alleged kidnapping plot and arrested four suspects accused of planning to abduct and subsequently kill their intended victim after collecting ransom.

The command’s spokesperson, SP Ramhan Nansel, disclosed this in a statement issued on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, Shetima Jauro Muhammad.

According to Nansel, operatives of the State Intelligence Department (SID), Lafia, received credible intelligence about a suspected criminal conspiracy to abduct Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi, popularly known as Alhaji Na’iye.

He said a discreet investigation led to the arrest of four suspects, all residents of Adudu District in Obi Local Government Area of the state.

The suspects were identified as Yahaya Musa, Likita Adamu, Riga Abdullahi and Saidu Alhaji Gari.

Nansel explained that two of the suspects were arrested on September 19, while the third and fourth suspects were apprehended on September 22 and 23 respectively.

The police spokesperson said the suspects allegedly confessed during interrogation to their involvement in the planned abduction and reportedly disclosed that the victim was to be killed after the ransom had been collected.

The four suspects have since been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Lafia, for further investigation and prosecution.

Two Arrested Over Cult-Related Killing

In a separate operation, the police command also arrested two suspects in connection with the alleged cult-related killing of a 26-year-old man in Lafia.

The incident reportedly occurred on September 24, 2026, at about 6:00am, behind the Eji-World area of Lafia.

Nansel said the Divisional Police Officer of Ombi 1 Division led a team to the scene following a distress call, where officers found a man identified as Venus, whose surname was not immediately known, lying critically injured.

The victim, an indigene of Benue State, was rushed to the Federal University Teaching Hospital, Lafia, where he was pronounced dead by a medical doctor.

His remains were deposited at the hospital mortuary for autopsy.

Preliminary investigation, according to the police, indicated that the attackers had allegedly gone in search of the victim’s friend, Joseph Friday Oluyemi of Maisoti Street, Lafia, who had earlier reported receiving threats from suspected cult members.

Two suspects, Friday Joshua and ThankGod Auta Vincent, have been arrested in connection with the alleged murder, while the police said efforts are ongoing to apprehend other suspects who are currently at large.