Niger State Police Command has arrested ten suspected robbers and thugs in a crackdown on criminal gangs operating in parts of Minna. Dangerous weapons and suspected cannabis were recovered from the suspects.
The arrests followed different intelligence-led patrols and raid operations conducted by police officers in collaboration with local vigilance groups.
The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Wasiu Abiodun disclosed this in a statement on Friday, adding that three suspects were arrested while they were allegedly trying to rob passengers in a tricycle along the Kwari-Begger/Maitumbi axis of Minna.
He said that on June 4, operatives of the Tactical Support Team were on routine patrol when they spotted a group of armed youths with cutlasses and knives.
They were immediately arrested and identified as Sadiq Ibrahim, 25, Abdulazeez Ahmed, 25 and Ibrahim Abdullahi, 26, all from Kwari-Begger, Maitumbi.
The suspects, he added, confessed during interrogation that they intended to dispossess passengers of their phones and other valuables. Two cutlasses and a jackknife were recovered from the suspects.
In a related development, police operatives attached to Central Police Station, in conjunction with some vigilante members raided criminal hideouts around PZ area, Sabon-Gari, Abdulsalam Quarters, Tayi Village and Seyeno on June 2.
During the raid, seven other suspects were also arrested and two sharp curved weapons and quantities of suspected cannabis were recovered.
All the suspects are now in police custody and under further investigation, a police spokesman said.
He added that the command also arrested one Abubakar Alfa a suspect for alleged possession of a locally made pistol and cutlass at a public function in Katcha.
The suspect was arrested on June 1 by operatives attached to Katcha Division after he failed to give satisfactory explanation for being in possession of the weapon.
He has since been moved to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Minna for further investigation.
Also, the police recovered an abandoned Volkswagen vehicle with registration number KUJ 113 SB along the Suleja – Minna Road.
Abiodun said the vehicle was abandoned for three days before it was moved to the station for safe keeping and investigation by police operatives from Paiko Division with the assistance of members of the community.
The command said efforts are still on to arrest other members of the robbery syndicate and unravel circumstances surrounding the abandoned vehicle.
