UPDATE: SSS Foil Attempt to Kidnap Late President Yar’Adua’s Daughter [Photo]

Nigeria’s secret police, the State Security Service, Thursday said it thwarted an attempt by some kidnappers to abduct one of the daughters of late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

Marilyn Ogar, the agency’s spokesperson, said two suspects, Hamza Abubakar (27) and Lawrence Okoro (43) have been arrested in connection with the incident.

According to Ms. Ogar, the two suspects had on August 21 attempted to kidnap the unnamed Mr. Yar’Adua’s daughter at her construction site in the Kado area of Abuja.

She said the two suspects colluded with five others, still at large, to plan the abduction.

The five other suspects are Abu Katsina, Daddy Mohammed, Isa Keteri, Masa’udu Kateri and another person simply identified as Ik.

Ms. Ogar said Mr. Abubakar befriended Mr. Katsina, a security guard at the late president’s daughter’s construction site, who aided him to visit the Kado construction site regularly.

The SSS spokesperson said, “Having obtained sufficient information on the lady, he contacted Dennis, who was at Owerri at the time. The suspects had planned to kidnap and detain the woman at Zuba, in the residence of an acquaintance of Okoro. However, the SSS operatives, acting on actionable intelligence, foiled the plot.

“Both Hamza and Dennis and other collaborators shall be charged to court soon.”

Ms. Ogar said Mr. Okoro  and Mr. Abubakar were charged with armed robbery in 2000 and 2006 respectively and were both remanded at the same Goron Dutse Prison, Kano.

The two, the SSS said, became friends while in prison and reunited in August this year after their freedom and then plotted the kidnap of the late President’s daughter.

UPDATE: See the photo of the suspected kidnappers

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