The Nigeria Army has arrested 22 suspects in Sokoto State between Sunday and Wednesday in a joint operation for various criminal offences.
Lt. Abayomi Oni-Orisan, the Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, 1 Brigade in Gusau, confirmed their arrest in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said the suspects were arrested for offences such as armed robbery, banditry, possession and trafficking in hard drugs and illegal possession of firearms.
Oni-Orisan said one of the suspects, a drug peddler, was apprehended at Didan Dere bypass area of Sokoto.
He said the suspect led troops to the hideout of other notorious drug kingpins at Kofa Kware, where a search conducted led to the discovery of the following items: 10 laptops and 22 different sizes of parcels of substance suspected to be Indian hemp.
The Brigade spokesman also said that a similar cordon and search operation at Nakasari Barebare area led to the arrest of a suspected drug baron.
According to him, a Toyota Camry car with registration number KUJ658AP and two tecno cell phones were recovered from the suspect.
Oni-Orisan said other items recovered during the operations were five knives, five cutlasses, four mobile phones, eight sim cards of various service providers, eight packs of Indian hemp and 10 packets of hard drugs.
He said assorted charms and 30 pieces of various keys were also recovered from the suspects.
He disclosed that during patrol along Gusau – Sokoto road a vehicle conveying eight illegal aliens to Niger Republic via Illa border was intercepted, adding that the foreign nationals could not explain their mission when intercepted.
Oni-Orisan stated that the synergy between the 8 Division Sokoto, and sister security agencies was now yielding positive results in the fight against banditry and other forms of insecurity in the state.