The Commissioner of Police in Zamfara State, Muhammad Dalijan, has made a significant breakthrough in the fight against banditry. His command has apprehended high-profile individuals, including a member of the State House of Assembly and a District Head, who are directly linked to the ongoing security challenges in the state. The personalities were accused of being directly involved in banditry in the State.

The police chief, however, did not mention the names of the high-profile persons arrested in connection with the crime. Underlining the global effort to combat terrorism, the commissioner of police in Zamfara State, Muhammad Dalijan, announced the arrests while hosting Thomas Parker, the officer in charge of the Counterterrorism Unit under the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), at the command headquarters in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital.

CP Dalijan also appealed to the United Nations to help establish a forensic laboratory to address the challenge of going to Lagos to conduct forensic analysis. The CP pled to the UN to replicate in Zamfara what they did in Maiduguri and sought the global body’s assistance in training on investigation and establishing forensic laboratories to accelerate the investigation and prosecution of suspected criminals.

He stated that crimes have been reduced in Zamfara due to the ongoing efforts of security agencies, in collaboration with Community Protection Guards (CPGs), to flush out the suspected terrorists who migrated from neighbouring States in Northwest Nigeria. Reacting, Parker said they were in Zamfara State on the appeal that Governor Dauda Lawal had made to the UN to assist the state in tackling the insecurity surrounding it.

Parker, who visited the police command to gather more information about the state’s existential threats, informed the police of the UN’s proactive approach. The UN is ready to assess the security situation, aiming to understand the causes and challenges and provide practical solutions to the threats. Thus, the UN demonstrates its commitment to supporting the state in its fight against banditry.

The UNDOC team has since embarked on a three-day stakeholders’ engagement in the state to comprehend the scope, the widespread challenges, and significant drivers of the insecurity confronting the state and devising the best ways to support addressing the problem.