In yet another sign of the deepening gunrunning crisis fuelling violence across the North-West and North-East, the Kaduna State Police Command has recovered a cache of live ammunition abandoned along the Zaria–Funtua Highway — a route increasingly exploited by arms couriers supplying bandits and terror groups hidden in forest enclaves.
Police spokesperson, DSP Mansir Hassan, confirmed on Wednesday that 210 rounds of 7.56mm ammunition were discovered in the Samaru area of Zaria after concerned residents spotted the suspicious package.
According to Hassan, the alarm was raised on Tuesday when members of the public reported that passengers in a moving black Volkswagen Golf “suspiciously threw a sack out of the vehicle on motion at Dogo Itace axis, Samaru, Zaria.”
A police patrol team was immediately deployed.
“The patrol team swiftly moved to the scene and found the abandoned sack, containing a total of 210 rounds of 7.56mm ammunition,” he said.
Security analysts say this discovery mirrors a familiar pattern: arms traffickers moving weapons through busy civilian routes, hoping to evade detection while delivering supplies — ammunition, magazines, food, fuel, and communication gadgets — to armed groups operating from dense forests stretching across Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and parts of the North-East. In recent months, several suspects have been intercepted along major highways with concealed rifles, live rounds, and bomb-making materials destined for bandit camps.
Hassan noted that the Samaru Divisional Police Officer immediately alerted other divisions along the route, but the suspects could not be traced.
“The DPO alerted the other DPOs along the highway for possible arrest of the vehicle and the occupants but to no avail due to late dispatch of the information,” he explained.
He added that investigators believe the suspects panicked after noticing the increased security presence on the highway.
“It is strongly suspected that the occupants of the vehicle sensed danger due to the heightened motorized and aggressive patrols, snap checkpoints embarked upon by the command,” he said.
Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Rabiu Muhammad, has launched a manhunt for the fleeing suspects and urged residents to stay alert.
He assured the public of the command’s commitment to staying ahead of criminal networks:
“A full-scale manhunt for the fleeing suspects has begun,” he said, reiterating the police’s resolve to protect lives and property.
Muhammad warned criminal elements to steer clear of the state, saying they would “face the full wrath of the law” once caught.
