Police Officer Arrested For Fatal Filling Station Robbery In Kantagora

A 20-year-old fuel attendant is dead and a serving Mobile Police officer is in custody following an armed robbery at a filling station in Kontagora, Niger State — a case that has once again cast a disturbing spotlight on the growing problem of criminal activity among uniformed security personnel in Nigeria.

Jibrin Inuwa was shot in the chest at Garun Mallam Filling Station, behind BCG Garage, on Wednesday, after he reportedly resisted two armed men who had pulled up on a motorcycle and demanded money following a fuel purchase.

He was rushed to the General Hospital, Kontagora, where doctors confirmed him dead. His remains were released to his family for burial according to Islamic rites.

What made the robbery stand out — and what has since deepened public unease — was the identity of one of the suspects. Inspector Jido Ahmed, a serving officer attached to 61 PMF Kontagora and currently on special duty in Agwara, was arrested after a gun duel with police patrol teams in the Dadinkowa area. He had reportedly been dressed in a mobile police uniform during the attack.

Ahmed was shot in the leg during the confrontation, disarmed, and taken into custody. An AK-47 rifle with serial number 38262 and 12 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition were recovered from him.

He was treated at the General Hospital, Kontagora, and later referred to the Police Clinic in Minna.

A second suspect escaped and remains at large, with security operatives said to be closing in.

For security analysts, the case is symptomatic of a deeper institutional crisis within Nigeria’s security forces — one that goes beyond isolated misconduct.

In an interview with THE WHISTLER, Usman Garba, a security analyst who tracks crime patterns across the North-West said “What we are seeing in Kontagora is not an isolated incident .

“When uniformed officers deploy state-issued weapons to rob and kill civilians, it signals a fundamental breakdown of internal discipline, vetting, and accountability within the security apparatus.

“The institution needs to urgently address how its personnel are monitored, especially those on special postings away from their primary formations.”

Garba warned that the pattern of security personnel being implicated in violent crimes risked eroding the already fragile trust between communities and law enforcement in the North-West, a region already under severe pressure from banditry and terrorism.

“Residents in communities like Kontagora rely on law enforcement as a last line of protection.

“When that trust is destroyed by the very people sworn to protect them, it creates a vacuum that criminal networks and non-state actors are quick to exploit,” he said.

The Niger State Police Command has confirmed the arrest and said investigation is ongoing.

Beyond the prosecution of Inspector Ahmed, analysts say the command faces equally urgent questions about how a serving officer allegedly turned his uniform and his rifle into tools of crime — and what systemic failures allowed it to happen.