Minna, the Niger State capital, was thrown into shock on Monday as a cloud of scandal, secrecy and tragedy descended on the Niger State Police Command following the death of a senior officer at the centre of a high-profile arms diversion investigation.
A Deputy Superintendent of Police, Isah Abdullahi, popularly known as Kunkuri and attached to Mopol 12, reportedly died after an incident at the unit’s armoury on Paikoro Road, Minna, just as investigators were closing in on him over allegations of supplying weapons to bandits terrorising parts of Niger State.
Sources said the drama began when a routine but highly sensitive audit of arms and ammunition—ordered from Abuja—uncovered alarming discrepancies in the Mopol 12 armoury. Investigators reportedly discovered that 13 AK-47 rifles and more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition could not be accounted for, immediately placing the officer who controlled the armoury under intense scrutiny.
The situation worsened when Inspector John Moses, attached to the Niger State Government House, was arrested and allegedly made confessions linking the missing weapons directly to DSP Abdullahi. According to investigators, Moses claimed the arms were passed through him and eventually delivered to bandits operating around Shiroro Local Government Area, allegedly with the help of his brother, described as a local informant in Erena Community.
With pressure mounting, DSP Abdullahi was reportedly returned from Abuja to Minna to take part in a physical verification of the armoury—an electronically controlled facility said to be accessible only by him. Police sources said the exercise took a tragic turn when the officer died during the process, sending shockwaves through the command and halting the audit abruptly.
The incident triggered immediate internal actions. Several officers who were present at the scene, including four subordinates, were arrested, while others are facing orderly room trials over alleged negligence and dereliction of duty. A special security team from the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) has since taken over round-the-clock guarding of the armoury as authorities work to determine how to safely manage and secure it.
Confirming the development, the Commissioner of Police in Niger State, Mr. Adamu Elleman, said the officer died during the audit exercise and that an autopsy would be conducted to establish the exact cause of death. He noted that investigators were alarmed by the discovery that several ammunition boxes were empty.
Further deepening the mystery, sources disclosed that the late DSP allegedly owned multiple properties and vehicles in Minna, raising fresh questions about the scale and duration of the suspected illegal arms dealings.
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, said DSP Abdullahi had been arrested earlier on December 15, 2025, over suspected ammunition racketeering, adding that the audit exercise ended tragically the following day, December 16, at about 2:30 pm.
As investigations continue, the case has exposed disturbing cracks within the security architecture, with authorities now racing to unravel the full extent of the alleged arms supply network—and determine whether more officers may be implicated in a scandal that has shaken public confidence in the force.
