By Idris Salisu, Gusau
The Zamfara State Police Command has foiled a bandits’ attack along the Gusau-Funtua Federal Highway in Tsafe Local Government Area and rescued nine victims who were intercepted by the armed criminals.
The command also recovered 11 locally fabricated AK-47 rifles in a separate operation on the highway.
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Yazid Abubakar, said the incidents occurred on August 28, 2026.
According to him, the Tsafe Divisional Police Headquarters received information about heavy gunshots around the Kwanoni-Gidan Giye axis of the highway.
Preliminary investigation revealed that heavily armed bandits had intercepted and attacked two vehicles.
One of the vehicles was a Sharon mini-bus, with registration number KWL 742 ZY, driven by Lawal Dauda of Zaria Local Government Area, Kaduna State, and conveying seven passengers from Gusau to Zaria.
The second vehicle, an unregistered bus driven by Haruna Alhaji Nasiru of Danja Local Government Area, Katsina State, was conveying his son, Sanusi Haruna. The vehicle was transporting dry cassava from Sokoto to Funtua, Katsina State.
Abubakar said that upon receiving the distress report, the Divisional Police Officer, Tsafe, alongside operatives of the Violence Crime Response Unit (VCRU) and military personnel under Operation Fansan Yamma (OPFY), swiftly mobilised to the scene.
He said the security forces engaged the bandits in a fierce gun duel, forcing the criminals to abandon their mission and retreat towards the mountainous outskirts of Tsafe town.
Some of the bandits were believed to have sustained gunshot wounds during the encounter.
“All occupants of the two vehicles, totalling nine persons, were successfully rescued unharmed,” the statement said.
In a separate operation at about 5:30pm on the same day, VCRU operatives, acting on credible intelligence, arrested a 50-year-old suspect, Khalid Umar, of Bawa Ganga village, Tsafe Local Government Area.
The suspect was intercepted along the Funtua-Tsafe Federal Highway while allegedly conveying 11 locally fabricated AK-47 rifles.
Preliminary investigation revealed that Umar was allegedly transporting the firearms from Shuwaki village in Bakori Local Government Area of Katsina State to Bawa Ganga in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
The police said the suspect remained in custody, while the recovered firearms had been secured for further investigation.
The investigation is expected to establish the source of the weapons, their intended recipients and other persons connected to their procurement and movement, as well as the suspect’s alleged mission.
The command reassured residents and motorists that it remained committed, in collaboration with other security agencies, to protecting lives and property and denying criminal elements freedom of action across the state.
It added that sustained joint patrols and intelligence-led operations would continue along major highways and other vulnerable areas to ensure the safety and security of travellers.
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