Dismissed Police Inspector Arrested for Allegedly Running Interstate Arms Network

Troops of Operation Enduring Peace have arrested a dismissed Nigerian Police inspector on suspicion of being a key figure in an interstate arms trafficking syndicate, allegedly supplying weapons to criminal groups involved in terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping across the country.

The Nigerian Army announced the arrest on its official page on June 15, 2026. The operation that led to the suspect's capture was carried out by Sector 6 forces in coordination with Headquarters Operation Enduring Peace, following intelligence reports about the movement of illegal weapons across state lines.

On Sunday, June 14, 2026, troops flagged down a white Peugeot traveling from Jos South toward the Makera axis of Riyom Local Government Area in Plateau State. What they found when they searched the vehicle is the kind of thing that tends to answer a lot of questions at once.

Weapons and ammunition recovered from the car:

• Two locally made handguns
• 167 rounds of 9mm ammunition
• Three cans of pepper spray
• A jack knife

Items found on the suspect personally:

• Two mobile phones
• Two cutlasses
• A police staff tag
• Photographs of himself in police uniform
• Two ATM cards
• A National Identity Number card
• N73,300 in cash

That police staff tag and the photographs are worth pausing on. Someone moving arms across state lines while carrying proof of a former law enforcement identity is either very bold or very careless. Maybe both. It also raises questions about whether the badge was being used as cover during previous movements, and whether it worked.

Preliminary investigations identified the suspect as Inspector Danjuma Yusuf, formerly of Nigerian Police Force Base 7 in Abuja. He had been dismissed from the force before this arrest.

The Army says intelligence findings connect him to an interstate arms trafficking network that has been supplying firearms to criminal elements operating across multiple states.

"Further intelligence indicates that the suspect is a key figure in an interstate arms trafficking syndicate, allegedly supplying weapons to criminal elements involved in terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes," the Army stated.

Yusuf is currently in military custody. Interrogation is ongoing, with investigators focused on identifying other members of the network, including those who fund