Police yesterday said they arrested 50 suspects linked to kidnapping, armed robbery, possession of firearm and trafficking hard drugs.
Force spokesman Frank Mba said this during a media briefing in Abuja.
He said one AK47 rifle, seven locally-made pistols, 2,496 rounds of AK47 ammunition, cutlasses, house-breaking implements, five cartons of Tramadol and four bags of weeds suspected to be Indian Hemp were recovered from the suspects.
Giving a breakdown of some of the cases, Mba said that four of suspects were arrested in connection with armed robbery, two others for gunrunning.
He said their arrest followed close monitoring of their activities by intelligence operatives of the police.
Mba said that the suspects were transporting AK47 live ammunition from Jos to the leader of a robbery gang in Kaduna when they were intercepted.
Mba said that the police were also on the trail of the gang leader who escaped arrest with the support of some of his family members.
“This explains why two of the suspects, who are members of the gang and also family members of the gang leader, were arrested.
“When their family house was searched, a total of 231 rounds of live AK47 ammunition were recovered from their home.
“Another of their brother escaped from the house with an AK49 rifle, which implies that criminality is their family enterprise,” he said.
The police spokesman said two other suspects were also arrested in connection with arms trafficking.
Mba said that police investigation had revealed that the suspects had sold four AK47 rifles and six locally made pistols.
He said efforts were being made by the police to track the manufacturers of the pistols to cut off arms supplies to kidnappers and bandits in the country.
Mba said that a nine-man gang comprising suspected arms dealers and criminals were also arrested by police operatives.
According to him, one of the suspects had been to jail severally and was recently granted amnesty by a governor in December 2020.
He said that the ex-convict had bought a pistol from the supplier in preparation to return to armed robbery when he was arrested.
Mba said that another gang member arrested was a convict who escaped from the Oko prison outbreak in Benin during the #EndSars protest in 2020.