Pregnant Suspect Gives Birth, As Police Smash Logistics Network In FCT

Juliet Oladele, Reporting 

OPERATIVES of the FCT Police Command have dismantled a major criminal hideout in the Paze hills area, arresting four suspects linked to a network of kidnappers and bandits operating across the Federal Capital Territory and neighbouring Kaduna and Niger states.

The breakthrough followed an initial anti-kidnapping and rescue operation led by the Commissioner of Police, CP Ahmed Muhammed Sanusi PhD, on 9th June 2026 in the Paze-Byazhin area.

Acting on intelligence gathered from that mission, CP Sanusi personally spearheaded a follow-up tactical operation on 11th June, targeting a suspected hideout around the Paze hills – a rugged corridor straddling the borders of Kaduna, Niger, and the FCT.

That raid led to the arrest of four suspects: Yahaya Abdullahi, Muhammed Yunusa, Hauwa Shafiu, and Shamsudeen Mustapha.

Preliminary investigations, police said, have revealed that the group is part of a coordinated criminal network involved in kidnapping and banditry. During interrogation, the suspects confessed that the location served as a meeting point where armed bandits converge with them to coordinate movements, share intelligence on intended targets, and plan subsequent attack locations.

The suspects further admitted to providing logistical support to armed gangs operating in the surrounding areas, including food, medical assistance, illicit drugs, and other supplies.

In a decisive third operation led by the Commissioner of Police today, 15th June 2026, officers returned to the identified location and completely dislodged the criminal hideout. Makeshift structures and storage facilities used by the suspects were destroyed, effectively crippling their operational base in the region.

One of those arrested, Hauwa Shafiu – who functioned as a logistics supplier and cook for the criminal network and their captives – was pregnant at the time of her arrest. She has since given birth to a healthy baby while in lawful custody and continues to receive adequate medical care alongside her newborn, police confirmed.

“Investigation is ongoing, and efforts are being intensified to identify and apprehend other members of the network and dismantle the wider criminal structure operating within the region,” said SP Josephine Adeh, anipr. mipra., Police Public Relations Officer for the FCT Command.

The Command has urged residents to remain vigilant and continue cooperating with security agencies in the fight against crime.