THE Police, on Tuesday, said it had arrested 50 suspects in connection with kidnapping, armed robbery, possession of firearm and trafficking hard drugs.
The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Mr Frank Mba, said this during a media briefing in Abuja.
He said that recovered from the suspects were one AK47 rifle, seven locally made pistol, 2,496 rounds of AK47 live ammunition, cutlasses, housebreaking implements, five cartons of tramadol and four bags of weeds, suspected to be Indian Hemp.
Giving a breakdown of some of the cases, Mba said that four of the suspects were arrested in connection with armed robbery, adding that two others were arrested over gunrunning.
According to him, their arrest followed close monitoring of their activities by intelligence operatives of the police.
The FPRO said that the suspects were transporting AK47 live ammunition from Jos to the leader of a robbery gang in Kaduna when they were intercepted and arrested.
Mba said that the police were also on the trail of the gang leader who escaped arrest with the support of some of his family members.
“This explains why two of the suspects, who are members of the gang and also family members of the gang leader, were arrested.
“When their family house was searched, a total of 231 rounds of live AK47 ammunition were recovered from their home.
“Another of their brother escaped from the house with an AK49 rifle, which implies that criminality is their family enterprise,” he said.
The police spokesman said two other suspects were also arrested in connection with arms trafficking.
Mba said that police investigation had revealed that the suspects had sold four AK47 rifles and six locally made pistols.
He said efforts were being made by the police to track the manufacturers of the pistols to cut off arms supplies to kidnappers and bandits in the country.
Mba said that a nine-man gang comprising suspected arms dealers and criminals were also arrested by police operatives.
According to him, one of the suspects had been to jail severally and was recently granted amnesty by a governor in December 2020.
He said that the ex-convict had bought a pistol from the supplier in preparation to return to armed robbery when he was arrested.
Mba said that another gang member arrested was a convict who escaped from the Oko prison outbreak in Benin during the #EndSars protest in 2020.
He said a total of four pistols were recovered from the gang members, adding that investigation was ongoing to get other members of the gang arrested.
The FPRO said the police had also arrested three suspects over a foiled kidnap plot in Zaria, Kaduna State.
He said the suspects had planned to abduct the manager of a petrol filling station, AYM Shafa Petroleum, in Zaria.
Mba said the suspects were arrested following intelligence report and subsequent monitoring by police operatives.
