Police arrest suspected armed robber, recover stolen motorcycle

Operatives of the Kebbi State Police Command have arrested a suspected armed robber and recovered a stolen motorcycle in the Gwandu Local Government Area of the state.

The arrest followed a swift operation launched after a 32-year-old man, identified as Umar Mode of Dalijan village, was attacked and robbed along the Gwandu–Birnin Kebbi Road on October 22, 2025.

The command’s spokesperson, CSP Nafi’u Abubakar, said in a statement on Thursday that the victim was ambushed by a gang of hoodlums armed with dangerous weapons, who inflicted deep cuts on his head and fled with his unregistered red Boxer motorcycle and a Tecno mobile phone.

“Acting on credible intelligence, a combined team of policemen and vigilantes, led by the Divisional Police Officer of Gwandu Division, tracked down and arrested one Basiru Lawali, 22, of Bancho village in Shagari Local Government Area of Sokoto State,” Abubakar said.

He added that police recovered an unregistered TVS motorcycle from the suspect, who confessed to the crime and named three accomplices — identified simply as Hassan, Umaru, and Salihu — who are currently at large.

The suspects were said to have been meeting regularly at the Dodoru market to plan their attacks.

Abubakar said the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Birnin Kebbi for further investigation, while efforts were ongoing to apprehend the fleeing gang members.

Commending the Gwandu police team for their quick response, the state Commissioner of Police, CP Bello Sani, urged them to sustain the momentum and intensify patrols along the Gwandu–Birnin Kebbi axis.

He also advised commercial motorcyclists to be vigilant and avoid carrying suspicious passengers, particularly at night, to prevent further incidents of motorcycle snatching across the state.

report that the Kebbi State Police Command has recently made multiple arrests and seizures of motorcycles linked to criminal activity, signalling a persistent issue with motorcycle-enabled crime in the state.

For example, the police arrested five suspects “supplying motorcycles to bandits” in Kebbi, uncovered motorcycles intended for bandit use and attempted bribery during that investigation.

In June 2025, the command recovered motorcycles abandoned by suspected vandals in Ribah District, again linking motorbike misuse to broader crime and infrastructure-theft networks in the state.