The Nigeria Police has arrested a notorious kidnapper and serial killer alleged to have been terrorizing high profile citizens in the country.
The suspect is also alleged to be an armed robbery kingpin as well as a political thug responsible for series of deaths in the last general election in Kogi and some states in the South-West.
The notorious criminal, whose identity was revealed as Zakeri Yua Isiaka, was arrested by operatives of the Inspector General of Police’s Special Intelligence Response Team led by Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), Abba Kyari, penultimate Sunday along the Okene-Akure highway.
The suspect and his gang were said to have disguised as military personnel during operations and were allegedly involved in the kidnap of high profile citizens, especially in Kogi State.
The 30-year-old criminal suspect, who hails from Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State, was arrested with 15 automatic rifles including an AK47, suspected to have been snatched from policemen.
Also recovered were several AK 47 magazines and different calibres of ammunition.
A security personnel, who participated in the operation that led to his arrest, described Isiaka as the most powerful and dreaded political thug in Kogi, Kwara, Ondo, Ogun and Lagos states.
The source also disclosed that he was trained by a factional leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) before he formed his own gang.
According to the police source, the suspect and his gang members had been involved in several major robberies, kidnappings and political-related killings in the country.
In his confessional statement, the suspect said he is a native of Odu-Ochelle village in Dekina LGA and is married to nine wives, who bore him 15 children.
His confessional statement reads in part: “I went into farming after I left school. I farmed at Iseyin in Oyo State, for about eight years before I went to Port Harcourt, Rivers State where I joined the militant leaders”.
“When I got to Port Harcourt, I stayed with a boy from my village. Because I had no job. I started visiting an Indian hemp smoking joints in the area. I later discovered that those who visited the joints are mainly into oil bunkering. I told them that I wanted to join them and they started beating me. They thought I was an informant, I was beaten for one week before a guy took interest in me. He allowed me to join them”, he noted.
Isiaka said it was during his association with the gang in Port Harcourt that he learnt how to handle fire arms and engaged in oil bunkering.
“I was making close to N3million each trip”, he said. “After I made my money I came to Abuja and settled down. I built a house and then I went into sales of vehicle. I was buying and selling cars. I also came back with three guns and I kept them in the village”.
The police said they have declared man hunt for other members of the gang and that the suspect would soon be charged to court.
