Syndicates of gunrunners smashed in Taraba, Plateau

Operatives of the Force Intelligence Bureau Intelligence Response Team, FIB-IRT, have arrested four notorious arm dealers in Jos, the Plateau State capital.

Weapons, including 57 AK47 rifles and a large catchment of ammunition were recovered from the suspects.

According to a statement by the Force spokesman, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the development followed the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba’s recent charge to the men of the Nigeria Police Force to be dauntless in the fight against crime and criminality in the country.

The spokesman identified the suspects as Abubakar Muhammed (aka Fancy) aged 22yrs, Hamza Zakari (aka Hamzo) aged 20yrs, Umar Ibrahim aged 25yrs and Muhammed Abdulkarim (aka Dan-Asabe) aged 37yrs, all males and residents of Jos.

He said they were arrested following credible intelligence on their activities in Jos and its environs.

The suspects, who confessed to their involvement in arms dealings and other criminal acts, have been identified as the major links for the supply of arms and ammunition to criminals terrorizing the state and some other parts of the country.

The investigative team is on the trail of their accomplices and they are closing in on them, according to the police.

The statement also revealed that operatives of the FIB-IRT acting on a tip-off, smashed and arrested three suspected gun runners in Ibi LGA of Taraba.

The suspects, Bello Sani, Venab Puncat and Yusuf Nahoda, all of Ibi Local Government Area of Taraba, during interrogation were said to have confessed to purchasing one AK47 rifle, and one SMG rifle at the cost of N900,000.