Head of the armoury of Mopol 12, located on the premises of B Division of the state police command, Paikoro Road, Minna, Niger State, Isah Abdullahi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), has shot himself dead amidst allegations of involvement in the supply of arms and ammunition to bandits and other hoodlums in the state.
DSP Isah Abdullahi, until the tragic incident, was the head of the armoury of Mopol 12, who was arrested following alarming preliminary findings that 13 AK-47 rifles and over 2000 rounds of ammunition were missing from the armoury. He was arrested and taken to Abuja.
It is understood that trouble started when a team of detectives from the office of the National Security Adviser stormed Mopol 12 for the annual routine auditing of arms and ammunition and discovered that caches of ammunition were either missing or unaccounted for.
The deceased police officer was later brought from Abuja and taken to the armoury for physical auditing of arms and ammunition when he reportedly grabbed one of the pistols in the armoury and shot himself in the head, dying instantly.
He could not be handcuffed since the armoury is electronically controlled, and only the DSP had the mechanism to open it, providing him the opportunity to reach the pistol before shooting himself.
The Mopol 12 armoury, it was learnt learnt, is host to various categories of weapons, but only the AK-47 section was audited before the tragic incident.
A Police Inspector, John Moses, attached to the Niger State Government House in Minna, who confessed during interrogation that the late DSP supplied him with arms and ammunition for onward delivery to bandits and other hoodlums in Erena community in Shiroro Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger State, was arrested in the course of investigation.
Inspector Moses further disclosed that the arms and ammunition were subsequently sold to the bandits through his brother, an indigene of the area who also serves as an informant to the criminals.
Meanwhile, it was learnt that the officers who accompanied the deceased to the armoury were immediately arrested and are facing an orderly room trial for alleged negligence and murder.
Also, four police officers attached to the late DSP have been arrested and are undergoing interrogation.
A special team from the NSA’s office is said to be guarding the armoury 24 hours a day, pending a solution to its opening and closing.
Sources say the deceased DSP reportedly owned at least two houses in choice areas of Minna and several cars.
The Niger State Commissioner of Police, Mr Adamu Elleman, confirmed the story and said that Inspector Moses is under investigation at the office of the National Security Adviser in Abuja.
Recounting how the DSP killed himself, Mr Elleman said he died “smartly brought out a pistol and shot himself when he started bringing out boxes that were supposed to contain ammunition, and they were all empty.”
