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John Shiklam in Kaduna

The operatives of the Kaduna State police command have arrested a suspect supplying army uniforms to bandits.

Spokesperson of the command, Mansir Hassan, disclosed this in a statement yesterday in Kaduna.

He also said two suspected armed robbers and two car thieves were arrested while one suspect was neutralised.

According to him, one locally made pistol with cartridge, two vehicles and  unsewn army camouflage material were recovered from the suspects.

The statement said the arrests were made during  patrols  and “stop and search operations” by the police.

The statement  said: “On August 25th, 2024, around 1:20pm, during a routine patrol and stop-and-search operation on the Birnin Gwari-Kaduna highway, police officers stopped a vehicle and found a black leather bag containing 15 pieces of unsewn military camouflage material.

“The suspect admitted that he was to deliver the materials to someone in Udawa village, who would then deliver them to armed bandits in the Chukuba area under Shiroro LGA of Niger state, for their Operations.” 

“The suspect is currently cooperating with the police to arrest other accomplices at large.

He added that on August 24, 2024, while on routine divisional patrol at about 1200 hrs, the police patrol team of Makarfi LGA, encountered a group of armed robbers who had blocked the road using logs of wood and stones.

Hassan said, upon arrival at the scene, a shootout ensued between the police and the armed obbers.  “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”, the police spokesperson said.

The statement said further 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.

Hassan said: “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.”

The statement said during investigation, the suspects confessed  to using a “master key” to steal cars.

Hassan added that further  investigations were on going to determine the full extent of the suspects’ activities and to identify other potential accomplices.