A routine police operation on the Birnin Gwari-Kaduna highway led to the arrest of a suspect caught with 15 pieces of unsewn military camouflage material intended for bandits.
Mansir Hassan, spokesperson for the Kaduna State Police Command, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Kaduna.
The suspect admitted that he was supposed to deliver the materials to someone in Udawa village, who would then hand them over to bandits in the Chukuba area under Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State for their operations.
“The suspect is currently cooperating with the police to arrest other accomplices at large,” the statement said.
In a related incident on August 24, 2024, during a routine divisional patrol around noon, police officers in Makarfi LGA encountered a group of armed robbers who had blocked a road using logs of wood and stones.
Hassan said, “Upon arrival at the scene, a shootout ensued between the police and the armed robbers. The superior firepower of the police patrol team forced the robbers to flee into the surrounding bushes.”
During the exchange, one of the robbers was neutralised, and his locally made pistol and one cartridge were recovered. The police are combing the surrounding bushes in an ongoing operation to apprehend the remaining suspects, he said.
Additionally, the statement mentioned that one Abdul Aziz Abdul Mumin reported to the police that his blue-black Toyota had been stolen.
Following the report, the vehicle was spotted in the Hayin Dan Mani area of Kaduna.
Acting swiftly, the police traced the location and maintained surveillance on the vehicle.
“At about 20:00 hours on August 26, 2024, the police moved in and jointly arrested two suspects – Abdul Mukhtar and his accomplice – a resident of Zoo Road, Kano.
“Ahmad was found driving a Mercedes Compressor with registration number AKD 547 GY, which is also suspected to have been stolen,” Hassan said.
During the investigation, the suspects confessed to using a “master key” to steal cars.
Hassan added that further investigations are ongoing to determine the full extent of the suspects’ activities and to identify other potential accomplices.
