SANI DUTSINMA
The Kebbi State Police Command has arrested seven suspected bandits during ongoing intelligence-led operations targeting criminal networks operating within the Soda Forest axis and adjoining border communities in Bagudo Local Government Area of the state.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer SP Bashir Usman disclosed this in a statement issued to newsmen in Birnin Kebbi, the state capital.
According to the statement, the arrests effected followed intensified security operations aimed at dismantling banditry networks and disrupting the logistics and support structures sustaining criminal activities in the area.
It added that, acting on credible intelligence, Mobile Police operatives along the Illo–Lolo Road intercepted three suspects travelling on a motorcycle from the Soda Forest area towards border communities.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the suspects were allegedly on a mission to procure food supplies for criminal elements operating within forest hideouts, the suspects, identified as Muhammadu Bande, Aliyu Abubakar and Muhammadu Aliyu, were arrested and the motorcycle recovered.
In a separate operation along the Bakin Ruwa–Ka’oje axis, security operatives arrested four additional suspects identified as Haruna Abubakar, Abubakar Lawali, Anme Shehu and Yahaya Shehu, as sustained pressure continues against criminal elements operating within the area.
The suspects are currently in police custody while investigations is on to unravel the full scope of their activities and establish their possible involvement in recent security breaches within the area, particularly the attack that resulted in the killing of three Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) personnel.
The Commissioner of Police, Kebbi State Command, CP Umar Hadejia, has described the arrests as a major operational success in the Command’s ongoing efforts to combat banditry and other violent crimes across the State, and commended the operatives for their professionalism, resilience and dedication to duty.
