By Ummi Ismaeel, Minna
Residents of Minna, Niger State capital, and its environs are now living in fear as the state Police command frees a suspected armed robber and kidnapper, Alhaji Saidu Maiturare.
Victims of the motor dealer turned armed robber and kidnapper are accusing the police of complicity, aiding and abating crime by providing cover for the inter-state criminal and his gang.
The suspect is said to have maintained two dangerous gangs working for him. One group is led by Ali Baba, while the other is led by Aliyu Musa.
Musa is head of his car snatchers, kidnappers, cattle rustlers and armed robbers.
They were arrested at different locations in Niger, Kogi, Kaduna and Nasarawa states.
Maiturare’s son and 46 others had been terrorizing Nigerlites and citizens of neighbouring states with dangerous weapons including guns before his (Maiturare) arrest.
“We were reliably informed that he has been released and now shuttles between Minna and Kaduna. He had informed some of his allys that he would be off the hook. It is unfortunate that someone with such criminal record is moving about a free man”, one of the victims said.
Maturare, who is 63 years, with three wives and 29 children, had confessed to committing the crime, saying, “I am the chairman of kidnappers. I started with kidnapping before I got back to motor business.
“Ransoms collected from families of kidnapped victims were running into millions.
“The first one we collected was N300 million and after that we collected from another person N170 million”.
Items recovered from the car dealer turned kidnapper and armed robber, who also told journalists that he was pushed into criminal activities by satan, included five AK 47 military rifles, vehicle demobilizers, fake US dollar worth about N490 million.
“And still I am dying this year insha Allah’’, the suspect had said when asked if he knew the implication of the series of offence committed.
Meanwhile, some of the victims, who had visited the Bosso Police Station in Minna to collect their stolen items, including diferent types of cars, plasma television sets and other household items, said they now live in fear over the release of the suspect.
One of the two victims, who complained about Maiturare’s freedom, said that the suspect boasted that he would be freed by the police, and that ‘‘he is definitely not going to spare anyone suspected to have a hand in his arrest and that is why we fear for our life.”
The suspect, who is a brother to the Vice Chancellor of the state owned, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU), Lapai, Professor Maiturare, his son and his 46 other gang members were arrested for armed robbery, kidnapping and cattle rustling by the Inspector General of Police’s Special Tactical Squad.
He was arrested for similar offence five years ago but was said to have escaped ‘mysteriously’ from detention after which he took part in several other robberies and was shot in the leg during one of such escapades but he again escaped.
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Niger State Police Command, Abubarkar Mohammed, when contacted to confirm the release of the suspect, declined comments.
