Nigerian soldiers have arrested a group of suspected bandits found patrolling with AK-47 rifles in a local security patrol vehicle in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State.
The suspects were intercepted by troops during an operation in the area and taken into custody.
In a video obtained by SaharaReporters, the arrested men were seen prostrated on the ground with their hands tied as soldiers questioned them over their activities and the source of the arms in their possession.
During the interrogation, one of the suspects, speaking in Hausa and Nigerian Pidgin, claimed that the vehicle and rifles were provided by the Kwara State government.
He alleged that they had been operating in the area under the guise of patrol duties for some time.
“We have been here for quite a while. We are using the vehicle for patrol. Wallahi, na the truth I dey tell you,” the suspect said in the video.
“Ilorin government na him give us this motor and the weapons. They were the ones that gave us the rifles.”
The suspect further alleged that the arms were not personally collected by him but by their superior, whom he referred to as “our oga,” insisting that multiple individuals were involved.
“We are not the ones that collected the rifles; it was our oga that collected them. I know because I was with them. We go patrol many times with them, including oga Victor. All of them are involved. The weapons are theirs,” he claimed.
The suspect repeatedly insisted that the rifles did not belong to them, swearing by God that the weapons were not privately owned by the group.
In the video, other detainees, whose hands were tied, were heard repeatedly chanting religious phrases as the questioning continued.
As of the time of filing this report, the Kwara State government has not issued an official response to the allegations made by the suspects.
The Nigerian Army has also not released a formal statement detailing the circumstances of the arrest or confirming the claims.
SaharaReporters previously reported that three young men returning from their mother’s burial in Agboro, Kwara State, reportedly been kidnapped by suspected terrorists who are now demanding ₦10million per victim which makes a total of ₦30million.
The victims; Isanlu Bidemi (33), Olumide (30), and their 17-year-old cousin, Moses were abducted on Sunday, December 7, 2025, along the Odo-Ogbe axis of Yagba East Local Government Area.
They were reportedly heading back home when they ran into heavily armed men.
SaharaReporters earlier noted that a fourth traveler, identified as a Hausa man, was also taken by the gunmen.
A family source described the situation as a heartbreaking double tragedy, revealing that the victims had just buried their mother hours before the attack.
According to the source, the kidnappers initially demanded ₦10 million per person, excluding the fourth abductee.
When the grieving family managed to raise ₦3 million, the offer was rejected. Instead, the abductors allegedly intensified their threats and beatings of the captives.
The abductors have been using a single basic torchlight phone, the only phone the victims carried during the trip, to make repeated ransom calls, further tormenting the distressed families.
Residents of Yagba East and Yagba West have expressed shock and outrage over the incident, condemning it as yet another sign of worsening insecurity in the region.
Community members described the ordeal as a cruel assault on a family already in mourning.
