The Kebbi State Police Command has arrested three men alleged to be members of a kidnap gang that terrorised communities in Shanga Local Government Area of the state.

Police spokesperson Bashir Usman said the suspects were tracked down to Bagudo Market after officers acted on what he described as credible intelligence about their movements and alleged roles in a recent abduction.

The men, identified as Abubakar Muhammadu, Abdullahi Majo and Ali Alhaji Jemu, are accused of participating in the kidnapping of a 55-year-old resident of Bani Koso Village in Shanga. The victim was reportedly seized by armed men who had been monitoring the area and targeting vulnerable households.

Usman disclosed that officers recovered two locally made firearms, a cartridge and three machetes during the operation that led to the arrests. The weapons are believed to have been used in previous criminal activities and will form part of the evidence in the case.

The Commissioner of Police in Kebbi State, Umar Mohammed Hadejia, has ordered that the matter be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Birnin Kebbi for a thorough probe. Investigators are working to determine whether the suspects belong to a wider network operating across local government boundaries and to trace any accomplices who may still be at large.

The police command said the three men will be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations, stressing that the case is being treated as part of a broader effort to dismantle kidnap-for-ransom cells in the state and restore confidence among rural communities.

Authorities urged residents to remain vigilant and to promptly report suspicious movements or unfamiliar faces in their neighbourhoods through the command’s control room lines. Security officials say timely information from the public has been crucial in recent breakthroughs against criminal gangs.

In a related development in the country’s South West, the Lagos State Police Command recently uncovered a suspected kidnappers’ den disguised as a shrine in the Idimu area. Thirteen suspects were arrested in that operation, underscoring what security analysts describe as the evolving tactics of kidnap syndicates who hide behind religious or traditional fronts to evade detection.

Police in both states maintain that sustained intelligence gathering, community cooperation and visible patrols remain central to curbing the surge in abductions and other violent crimes.