Two suspected members of a trans-national kidnap syndicate involved in the abduction of an American, Philippe Nathan Walton, have been arrested.
Walton was kidnapped on October 28 at his farm in Masalata Village, Republic of Niger. He was rescued by American Special Forces in Sokoto State on October 31.
Six of the kidnappers were killed.
Force spokesman Frank Mba, who paraded Aliyu Abdullahi (21) and Aliyu Umaru (23) yesterday, said they were arrested on November 25. The two hail from Sokoto.
According to him, the suspects are members of a a 15-man kidnap gang of Nigerian/Nigerien extraction, led by Barte Dan Alhaji and Dan Buda.
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He said: “Investigations by the Intelligence Response Team shows that the gang was plotting other abductions to avenge the death of their cohorts – four Nigeriens and two Nigerians – who died during the rescue operations. The force is collaborating with its Nigerien counterpart in the investigations to arrest other members of the syndicate currently at large.
he explained that there is an ongoing international initiative involving the World Health Organisation, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), GAVI and the international community to get vaccines delivered to developing and poorer countries, in an affordable manner and quickly.
According to her, the Pfizer vaccine and the AstraZeneca were presently being negotiated so that poor countries don’t have to stand in a queue behind rich countries.
The former finance minister described Africans as blessed, for not having the same incidence rate of COVID-19 like other continents, but warned African nations against complacency.
Okonjo-Iweala said a platform called the COVAX facility had been developed with 186 countries onboard to raise resources and get the vaccines to poor countries quickly.
“So, the Pfizer vaccine, the AstraZeneca, those are being negotiated now so that poor countries don’t have to stand in line behind rich countries,” she explained.
“So, we hope they are starting by the end of January. We will be able to reach these countries, including most of the African countries, Nigeria included, will be able to get access to some of these vaccines.”
