The Niger State Police Command has arrested a 35-year-old woman, Zuwaira Usman, from Pandogari in Rafi Local Government Area, for allegedly transporting ammunition to bandits and other criminal elements in the state.
Usman was arrested following intelligence reports linking her to bandits and hoodlums whom she allegedly supplied ammunition. The arrest was confirmed in a statement issued in Minna by the Niger State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Wasiu Abiodun.
According to the statement, the suspect admitted to the crime, explaining that she was acting on instructions from one Lawali of Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State. In her confessional statement, Usman said she met Lawali in Birnin Gwari in September 2025, where they exchanged phone numbers.
She claimed that during subsequent interactions, Lawali asked her to travel to Warri, Delta State, to collect a package on his behalf and gave her ₦20,000 for transportation. She said that upon reaching Abuja, Lawali spoke with the driver and directed where she would be dropped in Warri.
Usman further stated that on arrival at the destination, she met a man on a motorcycle identified as Ahmed, who handed her a sack containing a flask with items meant for delivery to Lawali. Ahmed allegedly gave her an additional ₦30,000 for her return journey to Kaduna.
She said she traveled back through Abuja to Birnin Gwari, where she delivered the items to Lawali. According to her, it was only at the point of delivery that she discovered the flask contained about 2,500 rounds of AK-47 ammunition.
The police disclosed that the said Ahmed has been intercepted and arrested in Delta State, while efforts are ongoing to arrest Lawali as investigations continue.
In a related development, the police also announced the arrest of a suspected child kidnapper in Kontagora, the headquarters of Kontagora Local Government Area of Niger State.
The suspect, identified as 25-year-old Aminu Ahmed of Kontagora, was apprehended based on technical intelligence linking him to the abduction of three children and the collection of ransom amounting to over ₦2 million.
During interrogation, the suspect reportedly confessed that in January 2025, he abducted a three-year-old boy around Samaru, Kontagora, kept him for four days, and traveled with him to Lagos. He said he demanded ₦10 million ransom from the child’s father and eventually received ₦1.4 million through various POS points before returning the child to an area near a radio station in Kontagora and escaping.
He further admitted that in May 2025, he abducted another four-year-old boy within Kontagora and took him to Lagos, where he stayed for three days before demanding ₦10 million ransom. He allegedly received ₦500,000 before dropping the child in Mashegu Local Government Area, about 150 kilometers from Kontagora, and later informed the parents where to retrieve the child.
The suspect also confessed that in November, he abducted a three-year-old boy from the Government Reserved Area (GRA) in Kontagora and took him to Ilorin, Kwara State. After three days, he demanded ₦5 million ransom and reportedly received ₦350,000 before abandoning the child in Kaboji, Mashegu Local Government Area.
He further claimed that he later lost over ₦1.8 million, being proceeds of his crimes, in a failed mining investment.
The police said investigations are ongoing, and suspects will be charged to court upon conclusion of investigations.
