Niger police recover 10 AK rifles, arrest six in anti-kidnapping operation

The Niger State Police Command has recovered 10 AK rifles and arrested six suspects linked to criminal conspiracy, armed robbery, kidnapping and culpable homicide during operations in July 2026.

The Commissioner of Police, Adamu Abdullahi Elleman, made this known at a press briefing at the Police headquarters in Minna.

He said the rifles comprised four AK-74s, three AK-49s and three AK-47s, adding that the police also seized five AK-47 magazines and 185 rounds of live ammunition from a separate arrest, bringing the total recovered ammunition to 330 rounds and the number of magazines to 15 for the month.

Elleman disclosed that tactical teams targeted areas around Garam, Chachi, Ijah-Gwari, Ijah-Koro, Gauraka and the Kaduna road after reports of repeated kidnappings earlier in the year.

It was learnt that intelligence identified 45-year-old Samaila Shefiu, also known as Yakumujuri of Barikin-Sale, as a key figure operating in those locations and in Kubwa and Bwari in the Federal Capital Territory. Officers arrested him on 10 July near the Kpakungu roundabout.

During interrogation, Shefiu admitted involvement in kidnappings in Gauraka, Kubwa and Bwari, stating that a gang member known as Yakubu, still at large, shot and killed the son of a kidnapped woman in Kubwa before the woman was released after ransom was paid.

The Commissioner said that follow-up operations led to exchanges of gunfire, the recovery of one AK-49 with five rounds at Bwari Hills, two AK rifles buried in the Gauraka forest, and two further AK-49s with 36 rounds in Bwari.

He also disclosed that a tactical and rescue mission in Gauraka freed three kidnapped victims and arrested five additional suspects, including Amadu Abdullahi, also known as Kachalla Baban-Tsoho; Adamu Abubakar; Mohammed Tasiu; Sani Shehu; and Bashir Aliyu, also known as Kachalla Mallam. He added that all six suspects remain in custody while efforts continue to locate remaining accomplices.

In a related incident on 28 July, the Commissioner stated that a patrol team in Tegina arrested Zubairu Mohammed of Maikujeri village in Rafi Local Government Area after finding five AK-47 magazines and 185 rounds of live ammunition concealed in a bag of cement on his motorcycle.

It was learnt that the suspect claimed someone in Minna had given him the bag to deliver to a man named Ado in Maikujeri.