The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has arrested four suspects, including an alleged arms dealer, during a coordinated clearance operation targeting kidnappers and criminal hideouts in Kwali, Abaji and Kuje Area Councils.
The operation, carried out on July 5, 2026, was led by the FCT Police Command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit in collaboration with other security agencies as part of ongoing efforts to dismantle kidnapping networks operating in border communities of the FCT and neighbouring states.
According to the Command, security operatives dislodged kidnappers’ hideouts and smoked out their caves in the Nago Forest, Kuje Area Council, leading to the arrest of Bello Abdullahi, Shuaibu Iliya, Idris Abubakar and Misbahu Isa.
Police disclosed that during the operation, one of the suspects, Misbahu Isa, led operatives to Zuba Motor Park, where they recovered 42 rounds of live 7.62mm ammunition concealed inside his Volkswagen Golf saloon car, which he allegedly used as a commercial vehicle.
Preliminary investigations identified Isa as a suspected arms dealer who allegedly supplied ammunition to kidnappers and bandits operating in Niger, Kaduna and Kogi states. Investigators further alleged that he recently supplied more than 20,000 rounds of live ammunition to wanted bandits and kidnappers and received N3 million for the transaction.
The police also recovered several exhibits from the suspects, including bottles of codeine-based cough syrups, tramadol tablets and capsules, cannabis sativa, a magazine loaded with six rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition, a torchlight, a Tecno mobile phone, a national identity slip, assorted clothes, cash amounting to N170,000 and other suspected illicit substances.
The FCT Police Command said investigations are ongoing to apprehend other members of the criminal network and reiterated its commitment to sustaining operations aimed at eliminating kidnapping, arms trafficking and other violent crimes within the Federal Capital Territory and surrounding communities.
