25th August, 2020
By Ibrahim Ahmad, NAN
The Nigerian Army has arrested 150 suspects at an illegal mining site in Zamfara State, Brigadier General Benard Onyeuko, Acting Director, Defence, Media Operations, disclosed on Tuesday.
He said the troops, under Operation Sahel Sanity carried out the arrest. He said 20 locally fabricated dane guns were recovered from the suspects.
The site that is located along Gadan Zaima in Bukuyyum LGA of Zamfara State serves as bandits’ hideout.
During the operation, troops arrested 150 suspects and recovered.
Onyeuko said that one of the suspects was neutralized while trying to escape.
He added that preliminary investigation has revealed that aside sabotaging the nation’s economy, banditry is being financed through these illegal mining activities.
Similarly, the gallant troops on fighting patrol encountered 3 bandits on motorcycles around Maigalma village in Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara while attempting to attack innocent residents.
During the encounter, one of the bandits was neutralized while others escaped and troops recovered one AK-47 Rifle, one AK 47 Rifle magazine loaded with 5 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and two motorcycles from the fleeing bandits.
He also said that troops acting on intelligence raided a known bandit hideout around Dogon Karfe village in Bakura area council of Zamfara.
Onyeuko said that during the operation four dane guns and one loaded magazine in an abandoned structure were recovered.
“While troops deployed at Wagini village arrested a wanted notorious bandit named Isuhu Ibrahim (Bula) who in company with other bandits have been terrorizing the general area for a while.
“Relatedly, troops deployed to Daki Takwas conducted a snap road block and successfully intercepted a Toyota Corolla car with Reg. No. DAL 41MT.
“After a diligent search on the vehicle, troops discovered 11 brand new locally made rifles and 150 live cartridges carefully concealed in different parts of the vehicle.