The Police Command in Kaduna State has arrested seven suspected bandits and recovered five firearms with live ammunition in separate intelligence-led operations carried out across the state.
The Command’s Spokesperson, DSP Mansir Hassan, confirmed the arrests in a statement issued on Friday in Kaduna, explaining that the operations followed actionable intelligence on the possession and movement of prohibited firearms by criminal elements.
According to Hassan, the first operation was conducted on January 28 at about 5:45 p.m. after credible intelligence revealed that some suspects were in possession of illegal arms. Detectives from the Anti–Car Theft Section of the State Criminal Investigation Department immediately acted on the information, leading to the arrest of five suspects.
He said items recovered during the operation included one AK-47 rifle with two fully loaded magazines, two Beretta pistols with one fully loaded magazine, and one locally fabricated Beretta pistol with seven rounds of live ammunition. Hassan added that the suspects were currently in custody while investigations were ongoing to uncover other criminal networks linked to them.
In a related operation on January 29, Hassan disclosed that the Divisional Police Officer of Zaria City Division, acting on credible intelligence regarding the movement of suspected bandits in possession of arms, led a team of 47 Police Mobile Force operatives on stop-and-search duties within the area.
“The operation resulted in the arrest of two suspects, Adamu Lawal and Abdulhadi Lawal, both from Malumfashi Local Government Area of Katsina State, with one locally fabricated firearm recovered from them.”
Hassan said the two suspects were cooperating with investigators by providing information that could aid further arrests and disrupt criminal activities in the region.
He further stated that the Commissioner of Police, CP Rabiu Muhammad, commended the officers involved for their professionalism and swift intelligence-led response, while reiterating the command’s zero tolerance for banditry and all forms of criminality in Kaduna State.
