Police foil armed robbery, arrest woman with cannabis

The Niger Police Command has foiled an armed robbery attack in Minna and recovered a locally made pistol and other exhibits, while also arresting a female suspect for alleged possession of cannabis, the Command has said.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Police Public Relations Officer, Wasiu Abiodun, on Monday.

According to the statement, a report was received at Tudun-Wada Division on April 19, 2026, at about 9:00 a.m. regarding a robbery incident at the Sauka-Kahuta area in Minna.

Preliminary investigations revealed that at about 2:30 a.m. on the same day, a gang of six armed men, carrying a gun and cutlasses, invaded a residential building in the area.

The suspects were said to have dispossessed an occupant of two mobile phones after breaking into the house. However, the operation was disrupted when one of the occupants resisted the attackers and inflicted an injury on one of the suspects with a cutlass.

Following the resistance, the gang reportedly fled the scene in disarray, abandoning several items.

Abiodun said, “The suspects quickly fled the scene, abandoning a locally made pistol, a cutlass, a pair of slippers, and a flashlight.”

Police operatives, led by the Divisional Police Officer, later visited the scene where the abandoned exhibits were recovered.

The Command confirmed that efforts are ongoing to track down the fleeing suspects and recover the stolen phones.

In a separate operation, the Command also confirmed the arrest of a female suspect for alleged drug-related offences.

Abiodun stated that on April 10, 2026, at about 3:30 p.m., operatives attached to ‘B’ Division, Kontagora, arrested one Rukayya Mohammed, 28, of Barracks Gate area, Kontagora.

She was reportedly intercepted during a stop-and-search operation around Kawo village with a polythene bag containing suspected cannabis.

“The suspect was arrested with a polythene bag containing some quantity of suspected cannabis. She confessed that she sells to members of the public,” the statement partly read.

The police spokesperson added that the suspect has been charged to court, while investigations are ongoing to apprehend her alleged suppliers.