A 30-year-old woman who specialises in supplying arms and ammunition to bandits in the Northwest zone has been arrested by the Zamfara State Police Command.
Parading the woman in Gusau on Friday, the Commissioner of Police, CP Ayuba N. Elkana said the woman, Fatima Lawali, who hailed from Kaura-namoda Local Government Area of the state, was arrested on Thursday October 25 at about 9.30pm.
The commissioner said, “On 25th October 2021 at about 0930hrs, Police Tactical Operatives of the Command in collaboration with FIB/STS led by DSP Hussaini Gimba on Tactical Operations in the state, arrested one Fatima Lawali, F, a native of K/Namoda LGA of Zamfara State.”
“Fatima specialised in supplying arms and ammunition to Bandits in Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Kaduna, Katsina and Niger states.
“The suspect was arrested at Gada Biyu area, under Bungudu LGA with nine hundred and ninety one (991) rounds of AK-47 live ammunition conveying from Dabagi Village in Sokoto State to be delivered to a notorious bandits’ kingpin called Ado Alero who has been terrorising Zamfara and neighbouring states.”
The commissioner further explained that following interrogations of the woman and other suspects arrested, the Police Tactical Operatives carried out tactical operations at different bandit’s enclaves in the state.
The operations led to a serious gun battle with the bandits where unspecified numbers of bandits were fatally injured while others escaped with possible gunshot wounds.
Acccording to the commissioner, 10 assorted AK-47 rifles with magazines containing 143 rounds of live ammunition were recovered from the scene.
Similarly, seven people were arrested during the operations for various offences ranging from possession of Indian hemp, rape, criminal conspiracy, cattle rustling, and unlawful possession of firearms.
The commissioner thanked Governor Bello Matawalle for his continued support and assistance to the police command in the fight against banditry and other criminal activities.
