Kidnapper Arrested While Collecting Ransom

Troops of the Nigerian Army, operating in close synergy with personnel from the Department of State Services (DSS), have apprehended a suspected kidnapper during an undercover sting operation while he was attempting to collect ransom money from a targeted female victim in Nasarawa State.

The suspect, identified as Mukaila Iliyasu, was taken into custody at Akwaba in Eggon Local Government Area following a coordinated joint counter-security drive executed by troops of Sector 2, Joint Task Force Operation Whirl Stroke, alongside intelligence operatives from the DSS.

The operational intervention was initiated following intelligence alerts indicating that Iliyasu had issued threats to abduct a local businesswoman unless a demand of ₦200,000 was met.

Confirming the arrest in an official release, the Acting Media Information Officer for Joint Task Force Operation Whirl Stroke, Lieutenant Ahmad Zubairu Zubairu, stated that DSS officials formally alerted military units to the extortion plot on October 29, triggering an immediate field response to intercept the suspect.

To execute the operation safely, a military officer went undercover and posed as the designated courier assigned to deliver the requested cash sum to the extortionist.

Iliyasu was arrested at the designated exchange spot while receiving the cash, with security forces recovering the entire ₦200,000 cash sum as physical evidence at the scene.

Military authorities characterized the tactical operation as a successful intelligence-led intervention that thwarted a high-probability abduction attempt while showcasing effective inter-agency tactical synergy.

Following his arrest and preliminary interrogation, Iliyasu was formally transferred to the Department of State Services for extended investigative profiling and prosecution.

Commending the tactical execution, the Force Commander of Operation Whirl Stroke and General Officer Commanding 5 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Moses Kolo Gara, praised the joint forces for their professionalism, field intelligence accuracy, and operational composure.

Major General Gara tasked security personnel across the sector to maintain operational synergy and deepen actionable intelligence-sharing to suppress kidnapping rings and domestic threats across their assigned operational jurisdictions.