The Nasarawa State Police Command has recorded major security successes with the arrest of 12 suspected criminals and the rescue of seven kidnap victims across the state.

The Commissioner of Police, Shetima Mohammed, disclosed this on Friday during a press briefing at the Command Headquarters in Lafia, while reviewing police operations carried out between January 1, 2026, and the date.

According to the police commissioner, those arrested include 10 suspected kidnappers and two armed robbery suspects. He added that operatives also recovered five firearms, two magazines, two rounds of ammunition, one motorcycle, and ₦200,000 cash believed to be proceeds of criminal activities.

CP Mohammed explained that one of the notable operations occurred in Awe Local Government Area on January 2, 2026, when suspected kidnappers abducted a 43-year-old man from his residence in Giza town and took him to an unknown location.

Following the report, the commissioner said he immediately ordered a manhunt for the suspects. The operation later paid off on January 11, 2026, when police received intelligence that a man was sighted tied to a tree in a forest around the Sabon Gida–Abuni area of Awe LGA.

Police operatives from Awe Division, working alongside local hunters, were mobilised to the scene. On sighting the officers, the suspects reportedly opened fire, prompting a gun battle.

“The operatives responded with superior firepower, leading to the neutralisation of one suspect and the recovery of an AK-47 rifle, one magazine and two rounds of live ammunition,” CP Mohammed said.

He confirmed that the abducted victim was successfully rescued, debriefed, and reunited with his family.

In another operation, the commissioner revealed that two suspected kidnappers, Musa Ahmed, 29, and Adamu Yusuf, 28, were arrested on January 2, 2026, along the Nasarawa Eggon–Mada Station Road.

He said the suspects were intercepted during a routine patrol while riding a motorcycle and allegedly attempted to bribe police officers with ₦200,000, which the officers rejected and recovered as evidence.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects had earlier kidnapped a victim in Arusu Village, Kokona Local Government Area, where police engaged them in a gunfight and rescued the victim, though the suspects initially escaped with gunshot injuries,” he said.

CP Mohammed added that one of the suspects was still nursing a bullet wound at the time of arrest and that both had confessed to their involvement in the crime.

The police commissioner assured residents that investigations are ongoing and reiterated the command’s commitment to sustaining aggressive patrols and intelligence-led operations to curb crime across Nasarawa State.