The police in Zamfara promised the people there that they would keep looking for criminals.
Eight people have been detained by the Zamfara state police command on suspicion of banditry-related offenses, criminal conspiracy, robbery, and fraud.
While presenting the suspects at the police headquarters in Gusau, the capital of Zamfara State, SP Mohammed Shehu, the police command’s spokesperson, said the police also found 15 locally made firearms, 146 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition, dried leaves believed to be Indian hemp, N1 million, and one Honda Accord vehicle as exhibits.
He said that the state police command, which is led by CP Kolo Yusuf, has kept up its fight against criminals all over the state.
The attack, according to SP Shehu, has resulted in the unprecedented arrest of 250 people for banditry-related offenses as well as the confiscation of weapons and ammunition, including AK-47s, AK-49s, rocket launchers, RPGs, GPMGs, Lars, and other calibres of high-tech rifles.
According to him, these initiatives have greatly contributed to stabilizing Zamfara’s security, which had previously been unsettling and worrying.
Shehu claimed that during a confidence-building patrol along Tsafe-Munhaye in the Tsafe local government, police tactical operators acted on intelligence and discovered ten locally manufactured AK-47 weapons and three locally manufactured revolver pistols.
“The gun runners retreated into the dense woodland after recognizing the presence of the police and abandoned the bag holding the weapons and ammunition.” During a spot search, police officers found the aforementioned exhibits. A drag net has been used to catch the escaping criminals.
Agents of the Zamfara State Police also detained three alleged bandit informants who were found to be in possession of deadly drugs and additional items that were possibly made of Indian hemp.
The accused, Murtala Musa, 26, Mustapha Lawala, 23, and Sharhabilu Taju, 21, are all from the Zamfara state local government areas of Kaura Namoda and Bungudu, respectively.
According to an intelligence report, police detectives detained the two suspects stated above on January 24, 2023, while they were both living in Bela village, Bungudu LGA. Before being detained, the suspects were a part of a criminal organization that sold deadly drugs, dried leaves thought to be Indian helm, and information to bandits. Because of what bandits have done, attacks, kidnappings, and killings of innocent people in Bungudu, Kaura Namoda, and Birnin Magaji LGAs have continued to get worse.
Three alleged scammers were also caught by police in Zamfara. They are known for stealing money from bank customers at ATMs in the states of Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, and Zamfara.
“On January 24, 2023, police detectives responded to a report made by Abubakar Lawali “M” of Talata Mafara LGA that, on the same day, as he was at the Zenith Bank ATM Gallery Talata branch, the aforementioned suspects planned to steal $1,000,000 from him by using his ATM card to withdraw the money from his account through a POS operator.
The suspects were successful in their action, according to the complaint, when they offered to assist him in making a withdrawal when he was unable to do so due to a network issue, he continued.They took his ATM card and silently withdrew the cash from the POS employee. All of the suspects admitted to the crime during questioning and went on to describe how they committed similar fraud at various banks in the states of Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, and Zamfara, respectively. A suspected Honda Accord Anaconda vehicle and one million naira ($1,000,000) in cash that belonged to the complainant were taken from them and preserved as exhibits. A covert investigation is being conducted with the goal of apprehending more of their gang members and prosecuting them in court.
A 46-year-old Ali Abdullahi from Kaduna State and a 32-year-old Gadafi Abdullahi were also detained by Zamfara State police for criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, livestock rustling, culpable homicide, and other criminal actions.
As soon as the inquiry is finished, according to SP Shehu, suspects will be brought before the court for prosecution.
