Police Bust Suspected Notorious Gun Runners, Armed Robbery Syndicate
Police said the arrest was part of the significant breakthrough in its fight against armed banditry and gunrunning.
The Katsina State Police Command on Friday announced that it arrested three suspected notorious gun runners and recovered a large cache of live ammunition along Dutsinma town in the state.
Their arrest, according to the Command’s Spokesman, ASP Abubakar Sadiq, was part of the significant breakthrough in its fight against armed banditry and gunrunning.
The suspects are Ahmed Mohammed Kabir, 25, of Hayin Danmani quarters, Kaduna State; Mannir Musa, 25, of Dutsinma town, Dutsinma LGA and Aliyu Iliya, 25, of Dankauye village via Ummadau, Safana LGA, Katsina State.
They were apprehended on 29th August 2024, at about 1245 hours, while attempting to deliver seven hundred and forty (740) rounds of live 7.62mm ammunition to suspected armed bandits in Yauni forest, Ummadau village, Safana LGA of Katsina State, according to the police.
ASP Sadiq in a press briefing held at the Command Headquarters, Katsina, said preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects received the ammunition from Nasarawa State to deliver to one Harisu, a suspected notorious armed bandits’ kingpin currently at large.
Noting that the trio has confessed to their involvement and implicated Harisu as the mastermind, the command said it is working tirelessly to apprehend more suspects and bring them to justice.
“This achievement demonstrates our commitment to combating armed banditry and gunrunning in Katsina State and beyond”, Sadiq added.
In a related development, the command said it has on the 27th August, 2024, arrested the trio of one Abubakar Ibrahim, m, age 35, of Dunawa village, Niger Republic; Abdullahi Nafi’u, m, age 35, Madalla quarters, Abuja, and Adam Musa, m, age 36, of Kano State, in connection with a suspected case of armed robbery at Baure LGA of Katsina State.
“The fact of the case is that on 3rd August, 2024, the command received a complaint that on the same date at about 0130 hrs, a three-man gang of suspected armed robbers criminally conspired and attacked the residence of one Ukashatu Isah, m, of Kofar Arewa quarters, Baure LGA, Katsina State, where they robbed him of his two (2) mobile phones, one Samsung Galaxy M32 and one Itel A12, at gunpoint.
“Also, the suspects, using the stolen mobile phones, criminally transferred a total sum of six million naira (6,000,000.00) from the victim’s bank account into three (3) different bank accounts.
“Upon receipt of the report, promptly, detectives swung into action, where they successfully traced and arrested the trio in connection with the offence.
“During the investigation, the suspects confessed to the commission of the offense and would soon be charged to court upon the conclusion of the investigations”, he noted.