By Suleiman Umaru
Mohammed Adamu, the Inspector General of Police, IGP, who is not ready to allow the death of three of his finest operational officers at a military checkpoint on the excuse that they mistook them to be kidnappers for failing to stop when flagged down would not allow it to be wished way without Hamisu Bala, the Taraba Kidnapper kingpin fished out from his hideout within and outside the state.
The number one Police Corp, according to security sources, has given a marching order to the Police Intelligence Response Team IRT, which is attached to his office and the anti-kidnapping Teams in the states to smoke out the so-called Bala, who was said to have been instrumental to the Tukur Buratai, a Lt. General and Chief of Army Staff, CAS’s soldiers from the 93 Battalion, taking action at the military checkpoint along the Ibi local government Area road in the north eastern state.
The IGP , has every reason to feel bad about the untimely death of the officers in the hand of the soldiers. Giving the names of the fallen officers as Mark Edaile, an Inspector from Edo state,, described as the heartbeat of the nation, Usman Danzumi and Dahiru Musa, both wearing the rank of Sergeants from Taraba state, Frank Mba, a Deputy Commissioner of Police and Force Spokesperson said the officers had severally participated in sensitive operations for the Force in the past and produced result.
He cited the arrest of Evans, a multi-millionaire kidnap kingpin in his posh home in Magodo, Lagos. According tom, they had \ participated in the arrest of the notorious 20 BokoHaram terrorists responsible for the 2014 kidnapping of the Chibok school girls in Borno state and the arrest of the dreaded Umar Abdulmalik, a Boko Haram Commander in the North Central geo-political region, thus restoring calm to the region as there had not been any form of Insurgency in the region in the last four years.
Other sensitive operations of the trio before they met their untimely death along the Ibi road include the arrest of the kidnappers of the two American and two Canadia tourists in Kaduna state as well as the rescue of Musa Daura, a former Comptroller, Federal Operations Unit, FOU, of the Nigerian Customs Service, NCS home state of President Muhammadu Buhari in Kano, the most populous state in the north. They may have won the heart of the IGP ,with the arrest of the 13 people responsible for the kidnapping of the Daura district Head on May 1st, 2019. The kidnap of the District Head may have rattled Farouk Musa, the Emir of Daura and the Katsina born Nigerian President who directed the Heads of the various security agencies in to beef up security in the state.
This may have informed why the IGP saw them as the best materials that could easily smoke out Hamisu Bala, the millionaire kidnapper, in Taraba state, who is in the ranks of Evans, from the south east to further boost their records.
They may have succeeded in the operation with the arrest of the kinapper kingpin by handcuffing and chaining his legs before the soldiers from the 93 Battalion, Takum, played the spoiler’s role on their way to Jalingo Police Headquarters to hand him over to the CP in the state by providing the opportunity for him to escape to thin air. The soldiers at the Ibi checkpoint had shot at the tyre of the bus carrying the police detectives and the kidnapper kingpin, forcing the vehicle to somersault into the bush, thus paving the way of escape for him.
Note that the Taraba millionaire kidnapper kingpin , has been on the list of Criminals declared wanted in the country over the last four years because of his Complicity in several high profile kidnap cases including the abduction of an oil -magnet in the ranks of Theophilous Danjuma, a retired Lt. General and former minister of Defense under the former President Olusegun Obasanjo Administration, in the state. He had demanded a N100 million ramsome which was said to have been paid by the family to him in an undisclosed location.
The killing of the three fine police detectives may have forced the IRT and the anti-kinapping teams across the country , particular the state into action. The Teams were said to have intensified their manhunt for him in all the nooks and crannies of the country in order to fish him out. The Value News learnt that the Crack detectives are working closely with the specialisied teams in other states of the Federation to fish him out from his hideout.
A senior police officer who confided in the Magazine disclosed that the same way the police mapped strategies that led to the arrest of the multi-millionare Evans, who is currently standing trial in a Lagos , High Court over alleged kidnapping cases,, the same way Bala, who may think he has escaped for good, would be arrested to face the full weight of the Law.It is not surprising why the Force have put a close tab on the officers of the 93 Battalion Takum to ensure that their effort was not sabotaged.
Giving the war of words between the Police and the Army over the kiling of three Crack police detectives at a checkpoint mounted by the Officers from the 93 Battalion , Takum , in Taraba state, the President who is not happy that the two security agencies under his Administration which are playing a major key role in ensuring the security of the country were washing their dirty linen in the public was said to have directed Gabriel Olonisakin, a General and Chief of Defence Statff, CDS, to commence immediate investigation into the involvement of the soldiers at the military check on the death of the police officers.
The intervention of the Presidency on the matter may have forced the two security agencies last Wednesday to set up a joint panel to investigate the incident and make their recommendation to the Authorities for implementation. The Army Authorities may hay have known that the police are good when it comes to investigation that they have allowed Mike Ogbizi, a Deputy Inspector General, DIG of Police, to Head the panel.
In spite of the fact that the two security agencies had constituted a joint Investigation panel to look into the Ibi saga, Sadiq Abubakar, an Air Marshall and Chief of Air Staff , has said that the Defense Headquarters have also decided to set up a Committee , on the orders of the President to look into the circustances that led to the incident and the disappearance of the kidnapper kingpin in Taraba state.
Aware that the Investigation panels may want to invite leadership of the Young Democratic Party, YDP, to explain the party relationship with the run-away kidnapper in the state, the party was said to have issued a d Statement disclaiming him, insisting that he was never a’’ member of the party, let alone buying form to contest the last Taraba state House of Assembly Election on the platform of the party in the state.
Ibrahim Jauro, the party acting National Publicity Secretary has tasked the various security agencies panel on the Ibi incident to look elsewhere to unravel the mystery behind the saga and bring all those alleged to be culpable to Justice.
‘’We have no record of his membership whatsoever’’, the party had said. This is bad news for the Amy Captain and the three soldiers who were said to have provided security cover to escort him to hi Ibi home after cutting the police handcuff and chains on his leg as they may be dismissed and made to face the wrath of the law as a deterrence to others who may have link with Kidnappers and other Criminal elements in the country.
