Bandits Kidnap Catholic Priest in Kaduna

The parish priest of Saint Thomas Catholic Church, Zaman Dabo community in Zango Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Reverend Father Gabriel Ukeh, has been kidnapped by bandits.

He was said to have been abducted by the bandits in the early hours of Sunday.

According to a statement by the Vicar General of the Kafanchan Catholic Diocese, Reverend Father Emmanuel Kazah, solicited prayers for the immediate and safe release of the abducted priest.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command says its operatives raided a kidnappers’ hideout in the capital territory and arrested four persons suspected to be kidnappers.

The suspects who include two ex-convicts were identified as Yahaya Abubakar, Mohammed Mohamed, Umar Aliyu and Nura Abdullahi.

They were arrested at Gidan Dogo and Kweti forest in Kaduna State, bordering the FCT.

The FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, who made this known in a statement on Sunday, said that the suspects had confessed to being members of a gang of bandits called ‘Mai One Million’.

She noted that the gang is responsible for a series of kidnapping incidents and other heinous crimes in FCT and its environs.

She explained that the rescued victims in a coordinated operation, which led to a shootout between the bandits and security operatives, had since been reunited with their families and loved ones.