News Obiaks News

Suspected kidnap kingpin, Hamisu Bala popularly known as Wadume, has allegedly confessed to having soldiers on his payroll. The Nation reports that the suspect who was re-arrested by police after his initial arrest was thwarted by soldiers who reportedly killed three policemen said he also sent huge amount to an army captain, Tijani Balarabe, a few weeks ago. Wadume said he was able to avoid arrest by paying soldiers N20,000 at each security checkpoints. A police source claimed “two of Balarabe’s boys, 'Babaruns' and 'Zubairu', called him on August 6 to tell him about Bala’s arrest. The source said Balarabe directed his men to rescue the kidnap suspect and later took him to his house where he invited a welder to remove the handcuffs. The police source said: “He has made so many revelations. A lot of things have been said that I don’t want to talk about to avoid jeopardising ongoing investigations. It is a huge network and so many people are involved. I can tell you that he confessed to have paid huge money into the Captain’s bank account three weeks ago and that he usually gave each checkpoint N20,000 each time he passed. The joint investigative panel set up by the Defence Headquarters said it was worried about the confession video of Wadume being circulated. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity said: “We are seriously disturbed and alarmed by the latest video on the purported confession of the re-arrested kingpin, Wadume, while in the custody of the police. “Though it is a commendable effort for the re-arrest of the kidnap kingpin, the video recording of the alleged confession of Wadume while the panel is still conducting its investigation is quite worrisome as efforts are being put in place to ensure smooth relations between the military and the police before the offending confession.