The Nigeria Police Force has arrested 56 suspected bandits and criminal militias in connection with killings in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State and Zamfara areas.
The suspects are: Abdullahi Abubakar , 35, gang Leader, Halidu Musa, 34, principal suspect, Mohammed Ruwa, 30, principal suspect, Mohammed Sani, 30,principal suspect and Dahiru Yahaya, 38, principal suspect, among others.
The Force spokesman, ACP Jimoh Moshood, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, said that the suspects who were in five groups were also responsible for armed robberies, cattle rustling and dealing in firearms in the areas.
Moshood said that items recovered from them include:Three SMG Rifles, one Foreign Made AK52 Rifle, two Foreign Made AK47 rifles, 41 Locally Fabricated AK47 Rifle, three Beretta Pistols and one Kral Magnun Pistol, among others.
He said that the gang led by Mohammed Rabiu was arrested after four members of the gang were killed by the Police Joint Team in a shootout in the forest at Bawan Daji, Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara.
“He confessed to have been responsible for the killing of 46 people during the burial of three people that his gang killed earlier in Bawan Daji village in Zamfara,”he said.
The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, recently paid an operational visit to Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State to assess the security situation following killings in the area.
Moshood said that Idris during the visit approved the creation of one Police Area Command and two new Divisional Headquarters.
The spokesman said he also ordered the immediate deployment of additional 200 personnel and 10 patrol vehicles to beef-up security in Birnin-Gwari to Zamfara to flush out armed bandits in the area.
He said that the arrest followed the deployment of the Joint Police Special Team under the Supervision of Commissioner of Police, Kaduna State.
“This operation which is still ongoing has been yielding positive results and culminated in the arrest of the above mentioned vicious armed bandits and militias terrorising the areas,”he said.
Moshood said that the suspects would all be charged to court on completion of investigation.
