Map of Plateau State
A middle-aged man attempting to supply arms to suspected bandits in Jos, Plateau State, has been arrested by the Plateau State Police Command.
The suspect, who arrived from Zamfara State on Wednesday evening, was apprehended near the NTA Park in Jos while trying to deliver the weapons.
The Chairman of the Jos NTA Park, Ibrahim Maikwudi, confirmed the incident to The PUNCH on Thursday. Maikwudi described how the suspect was almost lynched by an angry mob before security operatives intervened.
Maikwudi narrated, “It was the security men who came on time that saved the suspect. It was around 5 pm yesterday that the man came and was opposite NTA park at the junction leading to the state Secretariat.
“He was just going up and down making calls and informing some people that he was just at the NTA park for them to come and collect their delivery. So, two men were nearby watching and listening to his calls and suspected something was wrong.
“The two men could not approach the suspect but when our people were called, our boys now approached him, and asked him some questions but his answers did not add up.
“So, they caught him and collected a bag he was holding.
“The man protested but when they opened the bag, behold, it was full of arms and ammunition.
“It was then that people tried to beat him up but we rushed to call the police because we feared the mob might kill him there. He confessed that he was not the only one on the mission to Jos but they are many others.
“So that’s how men from the Special Investigations Bureau unit of the Police came and arrested and took him into custody.”
Efforts to reach Alabo Alfred, the spokesman for the Plateau State Police Command, were unsuccessful as his phones were switched off.
This arrest follows the recent apprehension of a bandit involved in the attack on the Zurak Community in the Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State. The bandit was captured while receiving treatment for gunshot wounds in a hospital.
Additionally, seven bandits were reportedly killed in an operation by a combined team of DSS and other security operatives in the Bangalala Forest of Wase Local Government Area.