Nigerian Police Arrest Former Immigration Officer Selling Sophisticated Firearms To Terrorists In Abuja-Kaduna Forests

A former immigration officer who was trying to provide criminals in the Abuja-Kaduna woodlands with sophisticated guns was taken into custody by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command.

After an intelligence-led operation, the suspect—whose name is still unknown—was captured, stopping the guns from getting to criminal elements.

Mustafa Mohammed, the Officer in Charge of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, called the arrest a "critical breakthrough" in an interview with reporters in Abuja on Wednesday.

In response to intelligence, the command stopped a former immigration officer from selling these firearms to robbers raging through the Abuja-Kaduna forest. The weapons were stopped as he attempted to deliver them, and the intelligence was obtained in time, Mohammed claimed.

A Scorpion CZ EVO3, a cutting-edge, fully automatic gun with an integrated silencer, was one of the weapons confiscated.

This is the most recent model in the Scorpion series, the 2022 model. It has three modes of operation: burst, automatic, and single.

It is an extremely advanced weapon, and depending on the setup, its magazine can contain 20 to 30 rounds. Additionally, we found 52 rounds of ammunition that, had they gotten into the hands of criminals, could have been a serious threat, Mohammed continued.

As part of heightened security measures throughout the city, 300 people were taken into custody between January and February 28, 2025, according to FCT Commissioner of Police Tunji Disu.

Security troops neutralized nine armed robbers and seven kidnappers, while 59 armed robbers, 10 kidnappers and their informants, and 16 cultists were arrested.

Disu added that specific operations had been carried out in high-crime districts such as Dei-Dei, Karu, Gwarinpa, Jikwoyi, Karimo, and Maitama, and that abandoned structures that were being utilized as criminal hideouts would be continuously monitored.

By promising to continue their vigorous operations against criminal syndicates, the police reaffirmed their commitment to combating crime in the Federal Capital Territory.