THE Niger State Police Command has intensified its crackdown on criminal activities across the Minna metropolis, arresting several suspects linked to theft, robbery, thuggery, and drug-related offences.
According to the command’s spokesperson, Wasiu Abiodun, operatives of the Chanchaga Division arrested one Aliyu Mohammed of Chanchaga for allegedly stealing a lister engine, a drum, and other valuables worth more than ₦1 million from a shop placed under his care near a mosque.
The suspect reportedly confessed during interrogation and led officers to Ibrahim Mu’azu of Sabon-Titi, who was said to have purchased the stolen items. The lister engine was recovered, and both suspects have been charged to court.
In a related incident, police arrested a 36-year-old motorcycle rider, Idris Yahaya of the Darulsalam area in Bosso, for allegedly robbing a student of an Infinix mobile phone valued at over ₦170,000.
The suspect was accused of impersonating a soldier and taking the victim to a secluded area within Bosso Estate before committing the crime.
He was apprehended by residents after the victim raised an alarm and has since been arraigned in court.
Meanwhile, four suspects were taken into custody following an attack on a vigilante operative in Kpakungu on December 24, 2025.
The suspects were accused of criminal conspiracy, grievous assault, and thuggery after allegedly disarming the vigilante of a locally made firearm and a cutlass, while threatening him to abandon efforts to arrest their associates.
Those arrested include Usman Mohammed, Shuaibu Shehu, Husseini Umar, and Abdullahi Mohammed. Weapons and suspected cannabis were recovered, while efforts continue to apprehend another suspect who remains at large.
The case has been transferred to the Anti-Thuggery Unit of the State Criminal Investigation Department.
Further raids conducted between December 23 and 27, 2025, led to the arrest of ten additional suspects from several locations across Minna, including Alagbado, Tudun-Natsira, Angwan-Daji, Abdulsalam Quarters, and New Market.
Cutlasses and suspected cannabis were among items recovered, and all suspects have been charged to court.
Additional operations carried out on January 17 and 18, 2026, resulted in more arrests in areas such as Kwangila, Kasuwan-Gwari, Sabon-Gari, and Abdulsalam.
Recovered exhibits included knives, suspected cannabis, illicit chemicals, and a locally fabricated dane gun.
The Niger State Police Command reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining law and order and urged residents to continue supporting security efforts by providing timely and credible information.