Niger Police arrest 12 suspects across multiple operations, including a fake "Yansakai vigilante" gang running kidnappings and killings in Mariga LGA, and suspects linked to the fatal stabbing of Nafiu Mohammed in Minna.
Minna, Niger State — September, 2026
The Niger State Police Command has arrested 12 suspects across several operations conducted between August 22 and 25, uncovering a criminal syndicate that had disguised itself as a "Yansakai" vigilante group to carry out kidnappings, armed robbery, and killings in Mariga Local Government Area.
According to a crime bulletin from police spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun, the command's surveillance team attached to the Kontagora Area Command arrested three suspects, Alhassan Tanko, 25, Basiru Shaibu, 26, and Ishaya Umar, 28, all from Beri in Mariga LGA on August 23, following intelligence that a group posing as a vigilante outfit in Uraga village was behind a wave of kidnapping and robbery.
During interrogation, the suspects reportedly confessed that seven members had formed a syndicate under the guise of the Yansakai vigilante group specifically to carry out kidnappings and armed robbery.
Police allege the suspects further admitted to killing at least three victims during their operations and stealing their motorcycles, which investigators say were subsequently sold to a man identified only as Awalu of Beri. A search of the suspects' residences led to the recovery of one pump-action rifle.
In a separate case, police arrested nine suspects in connection with the killing of 35-year-old Nafiu Mohammed, who was stabbed to death in the Sabon-Titi area of Maitumbi, Minna, on August 25.
Six suspects, Emmanuel Moses, 25, Lukman Mohammed, 25, Abdullahi Mohammed, 19, Sani Ibrahim, 18, Abdullahi Yusuf (also known as Challo), 22, and Adamu Isyaku, 20 were arrested by tactical teams deployed to the area following the incident. Police say the suspects have named a man identified as Muhammad Sani as responsible for the killing, and efforts to locate him are ongoing.
In a related operation the same day along the Maitumbi-Gwada Road, police arrested three additional suspects, Nura Murtala, Idris Aliyu, and Haruna Ibrahim, all of Saiko, found in possession of suspected cannabis, a cutlass, four scissors, and shisha pipes.
All suspects will be charged to court following the completion of investigations. The arrests reflect a sustained enforcement push across Niger State, coming at a time when the state continues to grapple with a wave of banditry, mosque abductions, and kidnapping cases concentrated in its Borgu and Mariga axes.
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