The Nigeria Police Force has arrested six suspects over alleged involvement in banditry, kidnapping and armed robbery during separate intelligence-led operations in Kaduna and Plateau States.
The operations also led to the recovery of five firearms and exposed suspected criminal networks involved in supplying motorcycles to bandits, stealing vehicles and financing terrorism.
The Commander of the Intelligence Response Team, IRT, Adamu Muazu, disclosed this on Friday while parading the suspects in Abuja.
He said two suspects, Nura Umar and Alhaji Rabiu Aliyu, were arrested in Kaduna State on August 29, 2026, for allegedly supplying motorcycles to bandits.
According to him, Aliyu provided the motorcycles, while Umar personally delivered them to criminal hideouts. Police recovered an unregistered Honda CV 125 motorcycle from them.
“The old man who is seated there among the suspects has been into this activity for quite some time. During analysis of his phones, we found that he was in contact with many of these bandits.
Muazu also announced the arrest of Abdullahi Abubakar, a suspected armed robber and one-chance operator, on October 12 in Kaduna.
He said Abubakar, who had previously spent 13 years in prison for a similar offence, allegedly strangled victims before stealing their belongings.
Investigations reportedly led police to Boniface, an alleged gang leader already serving time at Kaduna Correctional Centre, who was accused of directing criminal operations from prison.
“One of the astonishing aspects of this case is the involvement of Boniface. Boniface is in prison and has been communicating with this syndicate and telling them what to do," Muazu said.
Two pistols were recovered from a location linked to the gang. The police also discovered that stolen vehicles were allegedly sold through contacts in Kano, Kaduna and Niger Republic.
In a separate operation in Jos, Plateau State, police arrested three suspected armed robbers and kidnappers identified as Benjamin Okafor, Moses Akintuyi and Emmanuel Megarfi on November 2.
Muazu said they allegedly robbed a victim at gunpoint, taking N200,000, an unregistered Toyota Corolla, a laptop, three mobile phones and three ATM cards.
The suspects were also accused of withdrawing N800,000 from the victim's bank account.
Recovered items included three locally made pistols, one cartridge and the stolen vehicle.
One of the suspects was reportedly a neighbour who initially joined others to sympathise with the victim after the robbery.
Police said investigations were continuing to identify other accomplices and uncover possible links to additional crimes.
Police arrest six over alleged links to bandits, recover five guns