Police Engage Bandits In Abuja Neutralize Three – Official

Police Engage Bandits In Abuja Neutralize Three – Official

The police in Abuja engaged in a shootout with bandits and killed three of them, an official has said.

Police spokesperson Muyiwa Adejobi said operatives of the Special Intervention Squad (SIS), Federal Capital Territory Police Command, shot dead three notorious bandits during the shootout.

Mr Adejobi said the shootout occurred on Friday around 2 a.m. in a forest that links Abuja to Kaduna State.

He disclosed this during a parade of 20 suspected criminals in Abuja.

The police said the gang leader with the name, Mai Gemu, also popularly known as Godara, was shot dead along with two others.

The bandits are known for terrorizing Abuja and its surrounding states, the police said.

“We’ve recorded another significant stride towards fortifying the security landscape in the Federal Capital Territory following the recent launch of the Special Intervention Squad under the command of the Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun,” the spokesperson said.

“The SIS, in the early hours of Friday, neutralised one of the most wanted kidnap kingpins, Mai Gemu aka Godara and two other members of his gang in an exchange of gunfire in the Bwari area of Abuja in a forest linking Abuja with Kaduna State.”

Last week, the FCT SIS Commander, Commissioner of Police Bennett Igwe, said members of the squad had been stationed in major routes including the one in Usafa, Bwari Area Council.

The places, according to the commander, were routes used by bandits to move their victims out of Abuja into neighbouring states of Kaduna, Niger, Nasarawa, and Kogi.

Mr Egbetokun inaugurated the SIS on 17 January to tackle crime in the Nigerian capital where kidnappings appear to be on the rise.

The police chief said the squad would restore peace in the state and reduce crime.

The squad comprises trained, well-equipped and highly mobile police officers who will also be practising community-oriented policing in Abuja, he said.