….Says over 250 suspects, with banditry-related cases, have been arrested so far
Eight suspects, whose alleged crimes ranged from banditry to conspiracy, robbery and fraud, have been arrested by the Zamfara State Police Command, in its concerted and diligent operations that led to the recovery of various types of arms and ammunition, including money and Indian hemp
Some of the items recovered, as disclosed by the command spokesman, SP Mohammed Shehu, were 15 locally fabricated firearms, 146 rounds of AK- 47 ammunition, dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp and a sum of N1 million.
Since the commencement of the command’s onslaught against the activities of criminal elements across the state, Mohammed said,
over 250 suspects, with banditry-related cases, have been arrested and sophisticated weapons, including AK 47, AK 49, Rocket launchers, RPGs, GPMGs, Lar, as well as another calibre of sophisticated rifles were recovered during the current administration of CP Kolo Yusuf.
“This effort has helped tremendously in stabilizing the security of Zamfara, which was hitherto worrisome and disturbing”, the command’s spokesman said.
On the recent achievements of the command, Mohammed said that a total of 10 fabricated AK-47 rifles and three fabricated revolver pistols were recovered when the command’s tactical operatives, on confidence-building patrol along Tsafe – Munhaye forest, acted on intelligence report and conducted a rigorous patrol/stop and search to arrest some gun runners who were on their way to Munhaye Forest to supply arms and ammunition to the bandits.
The suspected gun runners, upon noticing the Police presence, abandoned the sack containing the arms and fled into the thick forest.
Also arrested were three fraudsters, whose area of speciality was to fleece bank customers at various Automated Teller Machines (ATM) outlets in Kano, Kaduna and Zamfara states.
The suspects, Mohammed Ibrahim, 34; Ibrahim Salisu,18, and Abdulazeez Mohammed, 18, whose activities attracted the attention of Police detectives on January 24, 2023, following a complaint lodged by one Abubakar Lawali that, while at the Talata branch of Zenith Bank ATM Gallery, the suspects conspired and defrauded him of (N1, 000,000) by withdrawing same from his account through a POS operator via his ATM card.
They had cashed in on the victim’s inability to make a withdrawal and pretentiously offered to help him out, only to obtain his ATM card, through which they made the withdrawal.
The statement disclosed that three suspected informants to bandits, who also supplied them with hard drugs, 26-year-old Murtala Musa; Mustapha Lawal, 23, and Sharhabilu Taju were, also on January 24, arrested with large quantities of Indian hemp.
Their actions, Police said, have continued to aggravate attacks, kidnappings and killings of innocent people of Bungudu, Kaura Namoda and Birnin Magaji LGAs by the bandits.
A notorious criminal element, whose stock in trade was to conspire with others currently at large to kidnap, and rustle domestic animals as well as provide information to bandits were also nabbed.
The 46-year-old Ali Abdullahi, of Gubuchi in Kaduna State, apprehend on January 23, confessed to being a member of a syndicate operating in Kaduna, Zamfara and other neighbouring states, confessing further that an unspecified number of people had fallen their victims, from whose relations several million were collected as ransom.
In the same vein, one Gaddafi Abdullahi, 32, of Birnin Tudun Anka, a member of the outlawed “Yansakai”, was on January 22 arrested with two firearms and two cartridges, following an attempt to murder one Kasimu Abdullahi for divulging information on his criminal acts.
”While the investigation was ongoing, the suspect was equally identified by the family members of late Abdullahi Nakwada for allegedly killing their father sometime in 2022″, the PPRO stated.
