Nigeria’s highway kidnap leader arrested – police

The alleged leader of a kidnapping gang has been arrested in Nigeria along with 29 other suspects.

Police say the gang has been involved in kidnappings, armed robbery and gun-running – mainly targeting the highway between the capital, Abuja, and the city of Kaduna.

A 36-year-old man confessed to leading the group, the police said in a statement released on Thursday evening.

The Abuja-Kaduna highway is one of the most dangerous roads in Nigeria with kidnappers waiting to ambush vehicles at several points along the expressway.

Sometimes they shoot sporadically at them forcing them to stop.

Some travellers are killed in the skirmishes and those who survive are kidnapped and only released after a ransom is paid.

This has forced many commuters to abandon the road for the train – considered the only safe way to get between Abuja and Kaduna.

The police said the suspects would be charged in court after the conclusion of their investigations.

BY BBC