Operatives of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command have arrested six suspected members of a notorious kidnapping syndicate and recovered the ₦8.25 million ransom allegedly paid by the family of one of their victims.
The Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Muhammed Sanusi, disclosed the development during a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, describing the operation as a major breakthrough in the command’s ongoing efforts to tackle kidnapping and violent crime within the Federal Capital Territory.
According to Sanusi, the command received a distress call on June 29, 2026, reporting the abduction of a young woman in the Maitama area of Abuja.
He said operatives of the Command’s Violent Crime Response Unit were immediately deployed to track the kidnappers.
The police commissioner explained that the suspects later contacted the victim’s family and demanded ₦20 million for her release.
“Unknown to the suspects, we were already hot on their trail. Our digital tracking revealed that they had taken the victim out of the FCT and kept her in Kwan-Kwashe Village, a remote settlement in Niger State,” he said.
Sanusi disclosed that although the kidnappers eventually collected ₦8.25 million from the victim’s family before releasing her on July 3, police operatives continued surveillance on the gang and successfully arrested six of its members in Suleja, Niger State, on July 5.
The suspects were identified as Ifeoma Nnamchi, alleged to be the gang leader, Peter Rasheed Onwunumah, Olanipekun Anuoluwa, Jemimah Monday, Gabriel Nnamchi and Stanley Nnamchi. According to the commissioner, two of those arrested are children of the alleged gang leader.
Items recovered from the suspects include the entire ₦8.25 million ransom, two operational vehicles—a Toyota Corolla with registration number SMK 559 FV and a Toyota Camry with registration number YAB 712 NH—both fitted with fully tinted windows, a cutlass, seven pairs of AirPods, several pieces of jewellery suspected to have been stolen from previous victims, five mobile phones and a laptop.
The commissioner further revealed that investigations showed that Ifeoma Nnamchi and Olanipekun Anuoluwa had previously been arrested by the FCT Police Command in 2022 and 2019 respectively over similar offences.
Despite their previous arrests, Sanusi said the suspects regrouped after regaining their freedom and resumed criminal operations in 2024, targeting commuters and residents along the Kubwa Expressway, Maitama Federal Housing Road and other parts of the FCT.
According to him, members of the syndicate confessed to carrying out several “one chance” kidnapping and robbery operations but were unable to accurately state the total number of attacks they had executed.
Police investigations revealed that in their five most recent operations alone, the gang abducted and robbed five female victims, extorting a total of ₦12.8 million in ransom.
Sanusi said the suspects remain in police custody and will be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations.
The police commissioner also warned members of the public against the indiscriminate use of vehicles with tinted windows, noting that criminal gangs frequently exploit such vehicles to carry out kidnappings, robberies and other violent crimes while concealing their identities.