A suspect, Basiru Nayeya, has said the aim of making quick money drove him into joining a kidnap gang.

The 27-year-old was arrested by a team of operatives of the Niger State Police Command and vigilantes in Inana village, Rijau Local Government Area of the state.

It was learnt that the suspect and his gang recently wrote a letter threatening one Bako Sani of Inana village to give them N5m or risk being kidnapped.

City Round gathered that after negotiation, the suspect and his gang agreed to accept N50, 000.

It was in an attempt to pick the money at the agreed location that the suspect was apprehended by the police and the vigilantes.

It was gathered that the suspect is an ex-convict, who sometime in 2016 was apprehended and prosecuted for theft of a motorcycle in the same area, serving a two-year jail term.

Speaking to our correspondent, Nayeya said he had been into crime for over seven years, giving people sleepless nights while looking for survival at all costs.

He said, “I don’t have any reasonable thing that I do as a young man. That was the reason I joined the kidnap gang to make quick money but police operatives apprehended me.

“I have been doing bad things and there is nothing I can do about it. I think doing bad things is in my blood. I am an ex-convict; I have served two years jail term for motorcycle theft. As if that was not enough, I was caught trying to kidnap somebody.”

The spokesperson for the Niger Police Command, Wasiu Abiodun, said the suspect confessed to the crime.

He added that investigation was ongoing and the suspect would soon be charged to court.