Yobe Police Storm Hidden Arms Factory in Potiskum Blacksmith Shop; Arrest Seven Suspects and Seize Fabricated Pistols and Gun Components

The ongoing offensive against the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons in the North-East has recorded a massive operational victory. The Yobe State Police Command has successfully unmasked and dismantled an illegal firearms manufacturing factory operating secretly inside a local blacksmith workshop in Potiskum, arresting seven suspects caught in the act of assembling lethal weaponry.

The tactical sweep was carried out at approximately 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. Moving swiftly on the heels of verified intelligence, a combined team from the Potiskum Area Command and the Divisional Police Headquarters launched a coordinated raid on the facility, located at the Tasha Adua axis along Danchuwa Road. Local blacksmiths at the site had allegedly shifted their operations from regular agricultural tools to a highly dangerous, clandestine manual focused on fabricating Dane guns, pistols, and other unauthorized tactical hardware.

The unexpected security breakthrough resulted in the immediate arrest of seven key operatives running the manufacturing lines. Beyond securing the suspects, field teams executed a meticulous search of the premises, unzipping a large stash of illicit materials that function as a regular supply chain for local criminal networks.

“Our operatives completely neutralized the production line and recovered several incriminating exhibits,” State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dungus Abdulkarim, confirmed in an official statement on Wednesday. “The seized items include custom-fabricated pistols, 24 muzzle pipes, nine gun butts, four unserviceable Dane guns, a professional filing machine, and a sharp cutlass. This operation represents a massive technical rescue of our public spaces from unmonitored arms proliferation.”

The localized weapon ring was uncovered amid a renewed strategy by the command to block the supply lines of rogue syndicates, particularly following recent regional crackdowns on drug peddling and youth hooliganism. Security experts note that domestic arms fabricators serve as the primary engine for rural banditry, providing cheap, untraceable firepower to insurgent collaborators and highway robbers operating within the border corridors.

The Commissioner of Police, CP Usman Kanfani Jibrin, has issued a strict directive to the investigating teams to expand their surveillance portal and intensify interrogations. The command aims to track the data footprint of the suspects to identify their external collaborators, locate their primary buyers, and determine the exact intended destinations for the newly minted pistols.

Advising property owners and community leaders across the state’s 17 Local Government Areas, CP Jibrin warned residents against allowing their workshops, warehouses, or residential premises to be used as a shield for manufacturing dangerous weapons. Urging the grassroots to remain highly vigilant and report unusual metallic activities or strange movements to the nearest station portal, the command reaffirmed that its defensive lines remain tightly locked to guarantee absolute public safety.