Abuja police engaged in a shootout with bandits and killed three of them, an official said.
Police spokesperson Muyiwa Adejobi said officers of the Special Intervention Squad (SIS), Federal Capital Territory Police Command, shot dead three notorious bandits during the shootout.
Adejobi said the shooting occurred on Friday around 2am in a forest linking Abuja with Kaduna State.
He revealed this during a parade of 20 suspected criminals in Abuja.
Police said the gang leader named Mai Gemu, also popularly known as Godara, was shot dead along with two other people.
The bandits are known to terrorize Abuja and surrounding states, police said.
“We have recorded another significant progress towards strengthening the security landscape in the Federal Capital Territory following the recent launch of the Special Intervention Squad under the command of the Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun,” the spokesperson said.
“SIS, in the early hours of Friday, neutralized one of the most wanted kidnapping kingpins, Mai Gemu alias Godara, and two other members of his gang in an exchange of fire in the Bwari area of Abuja, in a forest which links Abuja with Kaduna State. .”
Last week, FCT SIS Commander, Commissioner of Police Bennett Igwe, said members of the squad had been stationed on major routes including Usafa in Bwari Area Council.
The locations, according to the commander, were routes used by the bandits to transport their victims from Abuja to the neighboring states of Kaduna, Niger, Nasarawa and Kogi.
Egbetokun launched the SIS on January 17 to combat crime in the Nigerian capital, where kidnappings appear to be on the rise.
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The police chief said the squad would restore peace in the state and reduce crime.
The squad is composed of trained, well-equipped and highly mobile police officers who will also perform community-oriented policing functions in Abuja, he said.
