An alleged member of the syndicate, who admitted to making about N150,000 weekly from supplying bread to the bandits, said his income from the venture rose sharply at a point to N70,000 a day while some university students abducted in Kaduna were in their custody.
A police source, who said the suspects would be charged with criminal conspiracy and kidnapping, revealed that the syndicate was busted by the team of FIB-IRT at the Rigachikun base after supplying bread to the bandits in their hideout in the forest at about 5pm on June 8, based on reliable information.
Among the arrested suspects were Abubakar Ibrahim a.k.a Abu Rewire of Kuregu village in Wasasa Zaria; Auwal Abubakar of Zaria City; Hassan Magaji of Galadimawa village and Ibrahim Kabiru a.k.a. Abba of Galadimawa village.
On interrogation, the suspects confessed to being the ones supplying bread to the bandits at Galadimawa, Damari, Kidandan and Awala camps in Birnin Gwari and Giwa local government areas, Kaduna State.
The suspects were said to have led the detectives to their factory where 150 loaves of bread were recovered.
In his confessional statement, Auwal Abubakar, was said to have admitted that the syndicate was giving information to bandits on account of which they carried out kidnapping and cattle rustling in the Zaria axis.
Hassan, a native of Galadimawa village who is married with two wives and three children, said: “I started the bakery business in 2018. Before then, I was an okada (commercial motorcycle) rider, but I was always losing them to bandits who sometimes ambushed us.
“Some time ago, one of my relatives, Mustafa Magaji, came to our area and taught me how to operate a bakery, and with the little money I had saved, I started the business.
“I started with about N21,000 and now make about N400,000 a month. The boom in my business began when I started supplying bread to bandits.
“I was born and brought up here in Galadimawa, and I know most of our young men who decided to become bandits.
“Initially I was going around the area to sell bread in small quantities. That was when I met one Mohammed from Galadimawa.
“The community has a good relationship with them because they do not attack us. Initially, they were raiding our villages, but some of our community heads made them understand that we were not the cause of their problem; that we are poor villagers also struggling to survive. That was why they stopped attacking us and most of them started coming out to mix with the villagers.
“I normally stay close to the part of the forest where they are camped. It was during one of such movement in 2019 that I met Mohammed and he bought 10 loaves of bread and took my phone number. I sold the bread for N200 each instead of the regular market price, which was N170. The next day, he called me, saying that the bread was so sweet and asked me to bring 20 more loaves.
“The day I took the 20 loaves to him, I saw him with three others and they told me that they would like to be buying in larger quantities, but I told them that I did not have enough cash. We agreed that they would pay the entire money before I bake.
“They started with N20,000 worth of bread and gradually increased it to N50,000 a day. After removing the cost of the ingredients, I make as much as N150,000 in a week.
“We had a meeting point close to their hideout in the forest, but I was not allowed to enter the bush. It is not even accessible by car, so I had to stop there and share the bread to those that contributed money.
“They never threatened me because I minded my business. They know that people are avoiding them; that was why they normally encouraged me by paying for the bread before I baked it. So, I do not know about their kidnap business; I only sell my bread and leave.
“It was my workers that were arrested by the police while they were on their way to delivering bread, and they brought them to my factory.”
Hassan said he observed that whenever the bandits kidnapped a lot of people like they did some university students in Kaduna, the quantity of bread they bought would increase.
“During that period, I supplied up to N70,000 worth of bread every day till recently when it dropped to about N50,000,” he said.
