The Zamfara State Police Command has arrested several suspected gunrunners and kidnappers, recovering a cache of weapons and rescuing five abducted persons in separate operations across the state.
Police Commissioner Ibrahim Maikaba, who disclosed this in Gusau on Tuesday, said the arrests and recoveries were made between September 14 and 21 by the command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit and other tactical teams.
On September 15, operatives intercepted a Toyota Corolla along the Gummi–Sokoto Road, seizing four AK-47 rifles, 228 rounds of live ammunition, and magazines.
The suspect, identified as Nasiru Dawan Jiya, allegedly confessed that the arms were meant for bandits in Gurusu village.
Two days later, police arrested 57-year-old Muhammadu Dan Kani, popularly known as “Akki,” in Funtua, Katsina State. He was allegedly linked to multiple kidnapping cases.
Eleven fabricated firearms, 25 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, and six live cartridges were recovered from him.
The commissioner also reported the arrest of two other suspects with 18 fabricated guns along the Gusau–Sokoto Highway, as well as the arrest of a notorious drug dealer, Alhaji Shehu Aliyu, in Anka LGA.
Aliyu was allegedly in possession of nine sacks of Indian hemp and confessed to being part of the Kachalla Dan Goggo gang, a syndicate blamed for kidnappings in Gusau and nearby communities.
In another breakthrough, five kidnap victims were rescued in Talata Mafara LGA on September 21.
The victims were freed during a joint operation involving police, Community Protection Guards, and local vigilantes, following a gun battle with bandits moving them from Barikin Daji forest.
“All the rescued victims have undergone medical checks and have been reunited with their families,” Maikaba said, adding that investigations were ongoing to dismantle the networks supplying weapons and aiding criminal groups in the state.