Police Intercept Nigerienne National with Ammunition, Camouflage in Sokoto

Mohammed Aminu in Sokoto

The Sokoto State Police Command thursday paraded a national of Niger Republic with ammunition and camouflage in Sokoto State.

Addressing journalists at the police command headquarters in Sokoto, the state Commissioner of Police, Murtala Usman Mani, said the suspect was arrested last week at the border town of Bachaka in Gudu Local Government Area of the state.

According to him, on interrogation, the suspect claimed that he is a hunter and a leader of hunters in Dogon Dutsi town of Niger Republic.

“The Nigerienne national claimed that he is a hunter and that he was invited by some hunters in Nigeria to participate in a hunting exercise,” he said.

The commissioner who spoke through the Police Public Relations Officer of the Command, Cordelia Nwiwe, said the suspect was arrested in possession of a pistol with seven rounds of ammunition, one pump action rifle with 76 rounds of live ammunition and one axe.

Others were two handsets with six SIM cards, camouflage and police belt, international passport and a motorcycle.
“We are determined to curb crime in Sokoto and will not allow foreigners to infiltrate the country wearing camouflage and impersonating the Nigerian Army,” he added.

The commissioner also paraded one Umar Mohammed who has been impersonating Senator Ibrahim Abdullahi Danbaba representing Sokoto South senatorial district.

He disclosed that the suspect has been parading himself as an aide to the senator and extorting money from unsuspecting parents under the guise of a scholarship awarded to their children.

“The suspect has been moving around collecting money from parents on the pretext that the senator has settled 50 percent of tuition fee of their wards in some selected private schools such as Success Academy, Blue Crescent and Global Kids Academy in Sokoto.

“In fact, he used to collect between N50,000 and N100,000 from each parent and issue them fake teller of Zenith Bank. However, luck ran out of him and he was arrested.”

He added that the suspects would be charged to court after investigation had been concluded.
The commissioner reiterated the commitment of the command to rid the state of criminal elements.