The suspects have carried out a series of kidnappings where an unspecified number of people were abducted and millions of naira collected as ransom.
The Nigeria Police Force, Zamfara State Command, has arrested a female gunrunner and seven others for banditry.
This was made known on Friday by the Zamfara State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Muhammed Shehu at a press briefing held at the Police Command Headquarters in Gusau, the state capital.
The police spokesperson explained that on Sunday, the Police Command through its Community Policing engagement acted on intelligence information that led to the bursting of kidnapping syndicate and the arrest of six serial kidnappers who have been terrorising different villages in Kaduna, Kano and other neighbouring states including Zamfara, Sokoto and other states.
According to him, in the course of investigation, it was discovered that the suspects have carried out a series of kidnappings where an unspecified number of people were abducted and millions of naira collected as ransom.
"Each suspect further narrated the number of kidnappings he participated in as well as the role he played in each kidnapping.
"Surprisingly, one of the suspects Thomas Ya'u confessed that sometimes last year, he masterminded the kidnapping of his biological mother and three others, as a result of the kidnapping, they collected the sum of N30 million from the relations as ransom, and in turn he was given N1 million as his share. Case is under discreet Investigation and will be charged to court for prosecution.”
Shehu listed the six suspects to include a 30-year-old Thomas Ya'u from Makarfi Local Government Area of Kaduna State; a 45-year-old Abdulsamad Mohd; 35-year-old Bello Abdullahi; 30-year-old Abubakar Namadi; 20-year-old Suleiman Gabriel and 20-year-old Christopher Gabriel, all from Makarfi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
Similarly, on Monday, police detectives arrested a 30-year-old female gunrunner identified as Fatima Sani from Laura Namoda Local Government Area of Zamfara State who was in possession of 325 rounds of live ammunition.
Also, on Wednesday, the police said that upon an intelligence that a suspect identified as a 29-year-old Rabi'u Umar from Gusau, the state capital, was seen with an uncountable number of registered MTN SIM cards, "Police operatives swung into action, arrested the suspect and conducted on the spot search, where 1000 registered MTN SIM cards were recovered from him.
"In the course of investigation, the suspect confessed that the SIM cards are for sale to customers who are looking for registered SIM cards.
"It is well known to everyone that it is no longer permitted by the NCC to sell registered SIM cards of any network. Investigation is in progress with a view to arresting other suspects before being charged to court for prosecution."