Police in Zamfara State have arrested five notorious suspects involved in banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling, and illegal possession of firearms.
They were paraded by the Police Public Relations Officer in Zamfara, Shehu Mohammed, on Friday at the Police Headquarters in Gusau, the state capital.
He explained that the arrest of the suspects was a result of the collaboration between the police and the state leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN).
Mohammed stated that the command would continue to work with any group or persons willing to work for the peace of Zamfara and the north-west region.
He assured the people of Zamfara that the command was working hard to ensure the state was free from all criminal activities.
Those arrested were said to have been terrorising various communities in Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina States in the North West, and Niger State in the north-central part of the country.
Items recovered from the suspects included four AK-49 riffles, nine magazines, 960 live ammunition, and assorted charms.
The suspects were arrested through the efforts of the Federal Intelligence Investigation Bureau and Special Tactical Squad deployed by the Inspector General of Police to rid Zamfara and the north-west region of crime.
They were alleged to have kidnapped the younger brother of one Dr Dauda Lawal and confessed that they collected N20 million ransom, as well as received N10 million ransom for the abduction of the daughter of one Engineer Yahaya Maradun.
Among them was a Nigerien citizen, Shehu Ali Kachalla, a notorious gunrunner who confessed that he had been in the business for more than three years.
The foreigner revealed that he had sold no fewer than 4,500 rifles to different criminal gangs across the north-west region.
Abubakar Ali, another notorious kidnap suspect from Niger State, said he was operating within Kagarko and Chikun Local Government Areas of Kaduna State.
He also confessed that he had been in the criminal business for three years and has killed five of his victims who could not afford to pay ramson to regain freedom from captivity.
According to the suspect, their leader pays them between N600,000 and N700,000 in any abduction that attracts N20 million ransom and above.
The Commissioner for Security and Home Affairs in Zamfara, Abubakar Dauran, also witnessed the parade of the suspects at the Police Headquarters.
He promised that the state government would not relent in its continuous effort to bring a lasting end to criminality in Zamfara.
Dauran also appealed to the residents to join hands with government and security agencies in bringing down the activities of criminal elements making life unbearable to innocent citizens.
