The Nigeria Police has re-arrested five prison escapees from correction facilities in neighbouring Republic of Niger.

Two convicts who are serving life sentence and three others serving various jail terms who escaped from Niamey Central Prison in Niger Republic were arrested by the Nigeria Police in Kaduna, North-West Nigeria.

The new Commissioner of Police, Kaduna State Command, Alhaji Umar Shehu, disclosed this in his maiden press briefing yesterday in Kaduna.

The prisoners, who were said to be terrorising people around Barnawa area of Kaduna South Local Government, were arrested based on intelligence gathering.

The CP gave the names of the suspects as Musa Abdullahi, 35; Hamma Mohammed, 32; Adamu Dansharo, 33; Abubakar Hussaini, 23; and Muhammadu Shehu, 28.

The CP said: “We recovered a Toyota Prado Jeep with Reg. No. NUS 479 EY which was snatched at gunpoint by armed bandits in Port Harcourt and who were heading towards Kaduna. “When we received the distressed call, patrol teams were immediately alerted and the vehicle

was intercepted near Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic, Zaria. The bandits in a bid to escape engaged the patrol teams in fierce gun battle, where three of them were arrested while one escaped with bullet wounds. The arrested suspects are Umar Isah, 22; Dahiru Mohammed, 26; and Joshua Yarakawa, 30.”

A mild drama played itself out when Dahiru Mohammed told newsmen that he was only a victim of circumstances because he was in his house when Umar Isah came and asked him to escort him to Kano from Lagos, before then he is a dealer in black oil and never involved in robbery acts.

But in a sharp reaction, Umar Isah interrupted him (Dahiru), asked him to shut up, and addressed him as a coward, saying they have all been members of the same gang and were together when they snatched the vehicle. Isah further disclosed that it was Dahiru who drove the vehicle when they were intercepted and was the one who ordered other members to engage the police in a gun battle, so he has no reason to dissociate himself from the gang.

•Photo shows Kaduna CP, Umar Shehu

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