In a joint operation, agents from the Department of State Services (DSS), Niger State Command, conducted a raid on a residence in the Kulobe community, situated in the Gbeganu area of Minna, Niger State, prompted by a tip-off from vigilant neighbors. Their investigation revealed a substantial stockpile of AK-47 rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
The suspected terrorist reportedly detected the operatives’ approach to his home through his Closed-Circuit Television camera and engaged them in a firefight.
This intense encounter took place in the early hours of Tuesday, between 1 am and 3 am. During the confrontation, the suspect employed a rocket launcher to breach a portion of his residence’s perimeter, allowing him to evade capture. His wife and children, however, were apprehended by the security personnel.
A security insider who was present during the inventory of the weapons reported that the cache included over 150 AK-47 rifles, explosives, a rocket launcher, an anti-aircraft rifle, and more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition. These items were confiscated and transported to the DSS office.
Residents of the community and those in the vicinity confirmed hearing the exchange of gunfire and the rocket launcher’s blast, leaving them deeply shaken by the event. Some residents sustained damage to their properties, with broken windows, doors, roofing sheets, and walls observed in houses adjacent to the suspect’s residence, indicative of the battle’s intensity.
Empty bullet casings were strewn across the neighborhood, and some structures suffered structural damage due to the firepower involved.
The identity of the suspected terrorist, who hails from the central part of Kogi State, remains undisclosed. He had purchased the residence two years prior and kept a low profile, refraining from interactions with his neighbors.
Following the suspect’s indiscriminate shooting, a night watchman living next door, identified as Mubarak Abubakar, was struck by a stray bullet and is currently receiving medical treatment at the IBB Specialist Hospital in Minna.
The spokesperson for the Niger State Police Command, Abiodun Wasiu, has promised to investigate the incident further and provide updates to the media, though no follow-up information has been received at the time of this report.