Zamfara Police Arrest 8 Suspected Bandits, Fraudster, Recover Arms, Ammunition

Operatives of Zamfara State Police Command have arrested 8 suspects over banditry-related offenses, criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, robbery, gunrunning, and fraud.

In a statement by the Spokesman of the command, SP Mohammed Shehu, on Wednesday, said police recovered 15 locally fabricated guns, 146 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, a Honda car, N100 million, and dried leaves suspected to be marijuana.

According to the PPRO, three of the suspects including 34-year-old Mohammed from Shanono Local Government Area, 18-year-old Ibrahim Salisu from Kumbotso Local Government Area, and another 18-year-old Abdulazeez Mohammed from Kumbotso Local Government Area, both in Kano were arrested on Tuesday.

He said the suspects specialized in defrauding bank customers at various ATM points in Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kaduna, and Zamfara states.

The police spokesperson said on Tuesday, detectives acted on a complaint by one Abubakar Lawali of Talata Mafara Local Government Area of the state who reported that while he was at an ATM Gallery, Talata branch, the suspects conspired and defrauded him of the sum of N1 million by using his ATM card to withdraw the money from his account through a POS operator.

“According to the complainant, the suspects succeeded in their action when they offered to help him to make a withdrawal when he could not make the transactions due to network problems.

“They collected his ATM card and deceitfully withdrew the money from the POS operator. In the course of interrogation, all the suspects confessed to the crime and further stated how they carried out similar fraud at different banks in Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, and Zamfara States respectively.

“The sum of One Million Naira (N1, 000,000) cash belonging to the complainant and a suspected Honda Accord Anaconda Vehicle was recovered from them as exhibits. The discreet investigation is in progress to arrest other members of their gang and charges them to court for prosecution.”

Also, police detectives acting on an intelligence report arrested one 26-year-old Murtala Musa from Kado Village, 23-year-old Mustapha Lawala from Kasuwa Daji both in K/Namoda Local Government Area, and one 21-year-old Sharhabilu Taju from Bela Village in Bungudu Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

The suspects before their arrest were part of a criminal syndicate that gave information to bandits and also supplied all forms of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp and other dangerous drugs.

The image maker said upon their arrest, a large number of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp were recovered from them.

“Their actions have continued to aggravate attacks, kidnapping, and killing of innocent people of Bungudu, Kaura Namoda, and Birnin Magaji LGAs by the bandits.”

Similarly, on Monday, police operatives based on an intelligence report arrested one 46-year-old Ali Abdullahi from Gubuchi in Kaduna State for criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, cattle rustling, and acts of criminalities including being an informant for bandits.

According to the statement, the suspect is a member of a criminal syndicate operating in Kaduna, Zamfara, and neighboring states.

“In the course of the police investigation, the suspect confessed that, on several occasions, he and other members of their gang participated in the kidnapping of an unspecified number of people and collected millions of Naira as ransom from the relations of the victims.

“He also confessed to having rustled an unspecified number of cows and sheep. The suspect will be charged to Court for prosecution as soon as the investigation is completed,” the PPRO said.

On Sunday, police detectives acted on a complaint from one Kasimu Abdullahi from Anka and arrested a suspect identified as 32-year-old Gaddafi Abdullahi from Birnin Tudun Anka in Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara for criminal conspiracy, attempted culpable homicide, and another case of culpable homicide.

“While the investigation was ongoing, the suspect was equally identified by the family members of the late Abdullahi Nakwada for allegedly killing their father sometime in 2022.

“The ongoing investigation revealed that the suspect was among the members of the outlawed group known as ‘Yansakai’ who have been taking laws into their hands by intercepting and killing people and sometimes rustling their animals on suspicion of being criminals without informing the police or any constituted authority.

He said efforts were being intensified to arrest his gang members and charge them to court for prosecution.”

The police said that upon arrest, two locally fabricated guns and two cartridges were recovered from him.

In a similar development, Police Tactical operatives on confidence-building patrol along Tsafe-Munhaye forest acted on an intelligence report and arrested some gunrunners who were on their way to Munhaye forest to supply arms and ammunition to bandits.

According to the police, the gunrunners after noticing the police abandoned the sack containing the arms and ammunition and fled into a thick forest.

“The police operatives, while on a spot search, recovered 10 fabricated AK-47 rifles and three fabricated revolver pistols. Drag net has been sprayed to arrest the fleeing hoodlums,” he added.