The Niger State Police Command has arrested 139 suspects and prosecuted 64 over alleged involvement in a violent rally and thuggery, while eight suspected thugs were also apprehended during separate operations in Minna.
The Niger State Police Command says it has arrested 139 suspects following a recent unlawful assembly and violent rally in Suleja, with 64 of them subsequently prosecuted and remanded in a correctional centre.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Wasiu Abiodun, disclosed this in a statement issued in Minna on Friday, saying the suspects were arrested during raids on identified criminal blackspots across parts of Suleja and its environs.
According to him, the Commissioner of Police, Niger State Command, CP Adamu Elleman, deployed the Command’s Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU), led by CSP Hassan Gimba, to Suleja on August 4, 2026, following reports that some miscreants participating in an unlawful rally were armed with dangerous weapons and attacking and robbing members of the public.
Abiodun said the VCRU, acting on actionable intelligence, conducted sting operations in Madalla, Kwata, Bakin-Ruwa, Dikko, Kaduna Road, Sabon-Wuse, Gwazunu and Chaza areas.
He said 139 suspects were arrested at various locations during the operations.
The police spokesperson explained that after screening and investigation, 64 of the suspects were identified as miscreants and found in possession of suspected cannabis, dangerous weapons, scissors, knives, cutlasses and four live cartridges.
He added that the 64 suspects were arraigned before the Chief Magistrate Court in Suleja on charges including criminal conspiracy, armed robbery, aiding and abetment, harbouring suspected criminals, giving information to miscreants, causing disappearance of evidence, mischief and possession of dangerous weapons.
The suspects, he said, were subsequently remanded in a correctional centre.
The Command also disclosed the arrest of eight suspected thugs during separate operations in Minna.
Abiodun said that at about 4:30 a.m. on August 11, police surveillance operatives attached to Tudun-Wada Division conducted a coordinated raid on suspected criminal hideouts around the Talakawa area of Tunga, leading to the arrest of Ashiru Sirajo, 19; Aminu Mahmud, 17; and Dadi Suleiman, 14.
A search of their residence allegedly led to the recovery of a long flexible cutlass, two clubs and a shovel.
The operation was extended to the Sauka-Kahuta area, where police arrested an 18-year-old suspected thug, Jibrin Muhammad, who was allegedly found in possession of two sharp daggers, an ice bunker, six lighters and suspected cannabis.
Similarly, police operatives attached to Maitumbi Division, in collaboration with local vigilantes, raided criminal hideouts in the area at about 2:45 a.m. on August 9.
The operation led to the arrest of Buhari Aliyu, 25; Shaabal Muhammed, 20; Mubarak Ahmad, 24; and Saifullah Muhammad, 21, all of Challenge Junction, Maitumbi.
The suspects were allegedly found in possession of illicit substances and shisha pots.
Police said the investigation into the case was ongoing and the suspects would be charged to court after the conclusion of the investigation.
The Command further disclosed that two suspects were arrested for allegedly impersonating military personnel and assaulting a laundry attendant in Suleja.
According to the statement, the incident occurred at about 6:30 p.m. on August 8, when two men dressed in military attire allegedly stormed a laundry shop in the Angwan-Gwari area of Suleja and assaulted the attendant over an alleged missing mobile phone.
Police operatives attached to B Division, Suleja, commenced an investigation following a report and arrested Abraham Ashiwel and Michael Okonkwo, both of the Bakassi area, Suleja.
The suspects allegedly confessed during interrogation that they had been impersonating military personnel in the community after they were expelled from the Nigerian Mili…
