Sokoto Leads Police Ammunition Haul With Recovery Of 54 Rounds

Sokoto State recorded the largest recovery of firearms and ammunition in the Nigeria Police Force’s latest operational summary, with 54 rounds of live ammunition, two AK-47 rifles and two magazines recovered during an operation that foiled an attempted bandit attack.

The recovery was among 10 of 15 police operations conducted across 11 states and the Federal Capital Territory between August 14 and 16, 2026, in which firearms or ammunition were recovered.

An analysis of the Force’s State-by-State operation for August 17, 2026, by THE WHISTLER, showed that the operations were recorded in Benue, Delta, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Katsina, Kano, Nasarawa, Oyo, Ogun, Sokoto and the FCT.

The operations produced at least 32 arrests, five suspected criminals reported neutralised and two kidnapped victims rescued. The arrest figure excludes Nasarawa, where police reported “several suspects” without stating a number.

Sokoto’s largest recovery followed a tactical operation against an attempted bandit attack on Dankadu Village, Illela Local Government Area. Two suspected bandits were subsequently reported neutralised during clearance operations, with no security personnel or villagers injured.

The 54 rounds accounted for 72 per cent of the 75 rounds and cartridges whose quantities were expressly stated in the operations. The actual total is higher because Ogun Police did not disclose the quantity of live rifle ammunition recovered.

In Sokoto’s second operation, police arrested three suspected members of a motorcycle theft syndicate and recovered five stolen motorcycles and a fabricated pistol.

In Benue, police conducting search-and-rescue operations along Otukpo-Adoka Road came under attack in Amla Icho Forest, Otukpo LGA. One suspected bandit was neutralised after a gun duel, while an AK-47 rifle, breech number 7969, and three rounds of live ammunition were recovered.

Delta recorded three operations. Following a murder in Agbarho, police raided a suspect’s residence and recovered a locally made single-barrel gun allegedly used in the shooting. In another operation along GRA, Ughelli, occupants of a motorcycle fled into the bush, abandoning a crossbody bag containing a locally made cut-to-size firearm and other exhibits.

Police also arrested 18 male suspects during a raid on a suspected criminal hideout in Agbarho following the murder of a resident along Ekwhere Road.

Suspected illicit drugs, including tramadol and codeine, were recovered. The 18 arrests represented 56.3 per cent of the 32 arrests with stated figures.

In Gombe, police arrested a suspect at BCJ Quarters and recovered a locally fabricated rifle. In Kano, a suspect arrested at a wedding event in Tudun Yola Bajallabe following a shooting incident had the firearm allegedly used in the incident recovered.

Nasarawa Police recovered a fabricated pistol during a raid on a suspected armed-robbery hideout along Ambana Road, Lafia, while Oyo Police arrested a suspected criminal-syndicate member at Soka, Ibadan, recovering a locally fabricated pistol, a long single-barrel gun, nine rounds of 9mm ammunition and nine live cartridges.

In Ogun, two suspects were arrested after information was received about a person allegedly possessing live rifle ammunition. The ammunition was recovered, but its quantity was not disclosed.

In Imo, police rescued two kidnapped victims from a suspected kidnappers’ hideout in a forest between Amakohia Ubi and Okuku.

Two suspected kidnappers were “neutralised” during a gun duel, while others escaped with suspected gunshot injuries. Recovered items included a locally made single-barrel gun, an empty AK-47 magazine, a machete, a dagger, a mobile phone, three National Identity Cards and four ATM cards.

In Enugu, three suspected drug dealers were arrested at a suspected criminal black spot in Ogui. Police recovered 158 sachets of suspected cannabis, 136 sachets of suspected “Colos”, 136 sachets of suspected crystal methamphetamine, an electronic pocket scale, scissors, a wristwatch and N22,400.

The five reported “neutralisations” occurred in Sokoto, Imo and Benue during armed confrontations.

In Katsina, police tactical teams repelled an armed-bandit attack at Ilallah Village, Dandume LGA. The attackers fled into the bush with suspected gunshot injuries, while no arrest or recovery was reported.

Other incidents in the summary involved kidnapping, armed robbery, motorcycle theft, cultism and suspected criminal activity.

The Police classified three categories—banditry or armed-bandit attacks, murder or shooting-related incidents, and firearms-related criminal activity—as accounting for three operations each, or 20 per cent apiece.

All cases remain under investigation by the respective State Criminal Investigation Departments.

Recall that the Director-General of the NCCSALW, retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police Johnson Kokumo acknowledged the Nigeria Police Force for supplying the largest number of recovered weapons destroyed under the programme.

Kokumo noted that the police had contributed 11,907 automatic firearms and locally fabricated weapons seized during operations nationwide.

He disclosed that the destruction exercise, organised by the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons at the Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment, Giri, formed part of the government’s efforts to curb the proliferation of illicit weapons fueling terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes across the country.

According to him, the Centre had recovered over 21,000 illicit, obsolete and unserviceable weapons since its establishment and had destroyed 19,000 weapons permanently.

He said the arms destruction programme complemented the Federal Government’s broader security strategy, which includes military and law enforcement operations, intelligence gathering, border security, community policing and socio-economic interventions in conflict-affected areas.

He warned that the proliferation of illicit small arms remained one of the biggest drivers of insecurity in Nigeria, linking it to banditry, kidnapping, communal clashes, farmer-herder conflicts, armed robbery and other violent crimes.

Issuing a warning to illegal arms dealers, Kokumo declared, “To those who traffic in illicit arms: the weapons you move will, in time, be found, and they will be destroyed, never to return to circulation.”