The Zamfara State Police have detained a 58-year-old Algerian national for alleged involvement in transborder arms trafficking. The state’s Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Dalijan, announced the arrest on Tuesday in Gusau.
Dalijan revealed that over the past three weeks, police had conducted several raids, recovering 16 AK47 rifles. In addition, the police seized one double-barrel shotgun and one locally made pistol from a suspected arms manufacturer in Jos, Plateau State. “The command, acting on intelligence, tracked down an arms manufacturer in Jos and arrested a regional arms trafficker from Algeria at the Illela border point,” Dalijan said.
The detained Algerian suspect confessed to being involved in arms trafficking for the past eight years, supplying weapons and ammunition to bandits across the northwestern states of Nigeria. At the time of his arrest, four AK47 rifles were recovered from him.
Dalijan also noted that the police had arrested other suspects, including bandits and individuals involved in supplying motorcycles to criminal groups.
Authorities recovered live ammunition and N2.5 million in cash from these suspects. Additionally, illegal gold miners were detained, and several mining excavators were confiscated.
The commissioner reiterated that the federal and state government’s ban on illegal mining remains in effect and will be strictly enforced.
