The Kaduna State Police Command said its operatives arrested a suspected bandit and recovered an AK-47 rifle in Mariri Village, Saminaka, Lere Local Government Area of the state.
The spokesman of the command, DSP Mohammed Jalige, confirmed the arrest in a statement on Saturday in Kaduna.
Jalige said the command received credible intelligence on suspected movement of illicit arms around Mariri Village, Saminaka in Lere LGA.
According to him, the Commissioner of Police, Yekini Ayoku, ordered an immediate security cordon of the area, which yielded positive result with the arrest of a suspected armed bandit on July 7 at about 6pm.
He explained that the tactical execution of this operation was in line with the directive of the Inspector General of Police, Alkali Usman Baba, of intelligence-led police operation as well as community policing strategy geared toward nipping crimes in the bud.
The statement added: “Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect aged 25, hailed from the same Mariri village.
“Recovered from him are the following items: One Ak47 rifle loaded 29 rounds of 7.62 X 39mm live ammunition and one mobile phone as he confessed to have been a member of Kidnapping and cattle rustling syndicate in the area.
“The Commissioner while reiterating the directive of the IGP, ordered for a meticulous investigation in a bid to arresting other members of the gang as well as recovering their operational logistics for prosecution.”
Jalige said the CP equally called on the communities to redouble their current effort in providing actionable and result oriented intelligence such as this to assist the command and its sister agencies to minimise the current security challenges in the state.
