ICC Note: Fulani tribesmen suspected of the kidnap of a number of pastors and others in Kaduna State, Nigeria have been arrested by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) along with his Intelligence Response Team (IRT). Official arrested the suspects finding them at a naming ceremony organized by their gang leader. They have since been recognized by their victims and some have confessed. Kaduna State has complained of this gang of Fulani herdsmen for some time, knowing that they kidnapped people then held them for high ransoms frequently. The Fulani herdsmen, in general, are part of a larger issue plaguing Nigeria; the herdsmen are known for destroying villages, kidnapping, and killing people, typically targeting Christians and churches. Governments at all levels in Nigeria remain ineffective to reign in the Fulani militants from terrorizing Christians.

By Ifeanyi Okolie

05/27/16, Kaduna, Nigeria (Vanguard) – Residents of Kaduna Metropolis can now sleep with their eyes closed following the recent clamp down on a dreaded gang of kidnappers made up of Fulani Herdsmen who had held the entire State hostage. The suspects who were rounded up from their hideouts in Kaduna and Zaria by operatives of the Inspector General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team, IRT, were alleged to be behind the March 21, 2016, abduction of the President and Vice President of the United Church of Christ in Nigeria, HEKAN, Rev Emmanuel Dziggan, and Rev Illiya Anthony respectively and another pastor of the church, Rev Yakubu Dzarma, at Dutse village in Kaduna State. The gang was also said to have kidnapped a staff at the Presidential Villa, Abuja and many others.

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