Operatives of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command have carried out a raid of kidnappers’ camps in two forests in Kaduna State, arresting four suspected bandits and rescuing their victims.

In a statement shared on its official X handle on Sunday, the command said the special forces of the guards’ brigade and hunters of the State Security Service carried out the operation.

According to the statement, the operatives stormed the kidnappers’ camps at Gidan Dogo and Kweti forests, bordering FCT, around 10:00 a.m. on Friday.

It said officers arrested the suspects, Yahaya Abubakar, 25 ‘m’ of Mpape; Mohammed Mohamed, 32 ‘m’ of Zuba (an ex-convict); Umar Aliyu, 20; and Nura Abdullahi, 32, also an ex-convict at Kubwa and Zuba Hills.

“The suspects freely confessed to being members of a notorious bandit syndicate with the name ‘Mai One Million’, responsible for a series of kidnappings and other heinous crimes in FCT and its environs,” the police said.

The command stated that the bandits engaged the operatives in a shootout and soon scampered for safety, leading to the victims’ rescue and their illegally erected structures in all the patrolled camps were destroyed.

The illegally erected structures by the kidnappers in all the patrolled camps were all decimated.

The command said the rescued victims have since been reunited with their families and loved ones.

Its Commissioner of Police, Benneth C. Igweh, lauded the security operatives’ efforts in fighting criminality in Abuja.

The commissioner reiterated his command’s commitment to ensuring the security and safety of the residents of FCT.