Kidnapping: Police Arrest Woman Gang Leader, 5 Others in FCT
The FCT Police Command has arrested a six-man gang, led by a woman, over alleged kidnapping and armed robbery.
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Muhammed Sanusi, made this known on Tuesday at a press conference in Abuja.
He said that the gang members kidnapped a young lady in Maitama area of the FCT on June 29, 2026, and subsequently demanded for a N20 million ransom.
According to him, the suspects eventually collected a ransom of ₦8.25 million from the victim’s family before releasing her on the 3rd of July, 2026.
“We remained on the trail of the suspects until the 5th of July, 2026, when our operatives arrested six members of the gang in Suleja area of Niger State, two of which are children of the gang leader.
“The suspects are Ifeoma Nnamchi, 35 years old, who is the gang leader, Peter Rasheed Onwunumah, 40, Olanipekun Anuoluwa, 46, Jemimah Monday, 25, Gabriel Nnamchi, 14, Stanley Nnamchi, 17, all residents of Niger State.
The police commissioner said upon their arrest, the ₦8.25 million ransom collected from the victim’s family were recovered, in addition to two fully tinted operational vehicles – a Toyota Corolla with registration number SMK 559 FV and a Toyota Camry with Reg: No: YAB 712 NH
Also recovered from them were one sharp cutlass, seven EarPods, several jewelries suspected to belong to their previous victims, five phones, and one laptop.
Sanusi said further investigations revealed that the gang leader, Ifeoma Nnamchi, and the third accomplice, Olanipekun Anuoluwa, were previously arrested by the police in 2022 and 2019, respectively, for the same offence.
He said that the gang had been operating along Kubwa Expressway, Maitama Federal Housing Road, and other locations within the FCT since 2024.
The Commissioner said that the syndicate had carried out several “one chance” operations, the most recent being the kidnap and robbery of five separate female victims, which they collected a total of ₦12.8 million ransom.
“The suspects and the recovered exhibits remain in police custody and will be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Command has arrested four suspects for offences relating to kidnapping and the supply of ammunition and illicit substances.
The arrests took place on the 5th of July, 2026, following an ongoing clearance operation in remote communities around Kwali, Abaji and Kuje Area councils.
Sanusi said the operations led to the dislodging of kidnappers hideouts in Nago forest, Kuje Area Council.
“These operations being carried out by a combined security team led by the FCT Police Command Anti-Kidnapping Unit successfully tracked and arrested Bello Abdullahi, Shuaibu Iliya, Idris Abubakar, and Misbahu Isa.
“During the clearance operation, one of the arrested suspects identified as Misbahu Isa, took police operatives to Zuba motor park where the operatives recovered forty-two live rounds of 7.62mm ammunition concealed inside his Volkswagen Golf saloon vehicle which he uses to operate as a commercial driver.
“Investigations revealed that Misbahu Isa is an arms dealer responsible for supplying ammunition to several kidnappers across Niger, Kaduna, and Kogi states.
“Most recently, he supplied over 20,000 rounds of live ammunition to wanted bandits and kidnappers and received a payment of N3 million as payment for the deliveries.
The Police Commissioner also said that, the Command, through intelligence gathering and community policing, raided several criminal hotspots across the Federal Capital Territory in the past week.
“These raid operations were carried out by Divisions across the Command and resulted in the arrest of 560 suspects and recovery of illicit drugs, arms and other exhibits.
A detailed breakdown of the exhibits recovered from these raids include one locally fabricated pistol, a locally fabricated AK-47 rifle, and three live 9mm ammunition.
He assured that the Command would not rest on its oars until criminal elements are flushed out of the Federal Capital Territory.
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