Policeman rejects ₦1m bribe from bandit during arrest in Kaduna hotel

A police Divisional Officer has rejected the offer of an N1m bribe from a suspected bandit who pulled his last trick in a desperate attempt to escape arrest in a hotel in a Kaduna community.

Luck ran out on the suspect as police officers cornered him at the hotel in the Tafa community and arrested him with the bounty he earned from his illicit dealings on Wednesday, January 19, 2024.

However, the arrested bandit reportedly dangled one million naira out of the ransom recovered from him in front of the officer, but his selfish gesture met a hard luck.

Narrating the incident on Thursday, January 25, 2024, the Public Relations Officer of the Kaduna Police Command, ASP Mansir Hassan, said the divisional headquarters received credible information regarding the presence of the suspected person at Easyway Hotel in Tafa town.

Acting on the intelligence, the operatives led by the Divisional Police Officer stormed the hotel and arrested a certain 28-year-old Bello Muhammad from Zamfara State.

The team also recovered the sum of ₦2,350,000:00, suspected to be proceeds of kidnappings.

Hassan stated that the suspect admitted to being a kidnapper who operates with his gang around Kagarko forest in Kaduna during an investigation.

The police spokesman explained that the recovered fund is the suspect's share of a ransom collected.

He added that a check of his mobile phone buttressed the suspect's confession as pictures of him brandishing an AK47 rifle in a forest were retrieved.

“The said suspect Bello Muhammad thus offered a million naira backhander to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) to stop him from furthering the investigation, which the Police Officer forthwith rejected. The investigation is still ongoing as the suspect is assisting the Police with vital information,” he said.

While praising the Tafa Division’s Operatives, the Commissioner of Police Kaduna State Command, CP A.D Ali, urged them not to relent in their efforts until crimes and criminality are reduced minimally.

The CP also tasked hoteliers, recreation, and leisure service operators in the state to always carry out due diligence on their customers to avoid harbouring criminals in their facilities.