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