The police statement comes amid widespread claims circulating on social media alleging that Kassim d!ed in police custody due to torture.
The Nigeria Police Force, Kogi State Command has confirmed the de@th of Muhammed Kassim, popularly known as Enemi.
A statement released by the spokesperson of the command on, SP William Ovye Aya, on Wednesday, July 17, 2025, said Kassim, from Idah, allegedl to a syndicate involved in arms and ammunition trafficking across and beyond Kogi State.
According to the statement, Kassim d!ed while attempting to evade arrest.
The police statement comes amid widespread claims circulating on social media alleging that Kassim d!ed in police custody due to torture.
The Publicity Secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Kogi State, Isaiah Ijele, who referred to Kassim as a “Regional Youth Leader”, had accused the police of k!lling him in a circumstance that suggests a politically motivated act and demanded justice.
The case, the police noted, is currently under investigation at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Lokoja.
The statement explained that the investigation followed a legal directive from the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Abuja, which implicated one Mohammed Amedu as a member of the arms trafficking ring.
Amedu was arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) on June 22, 2025, and later handed over to the Kogi State Police Command on June 28.
The suspect, Amedu, reportedly confessed to the crime and implicated Kassim and others as members of the syndicate.
Investigations further revealed that Kassim allegedly purchased 20 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition to test an AK-47 rifle in his possession.
Police said five additional suspects have been arrested, and two locally made Beretta pistols were recovered during the ongoing investigation.
According to the police, upon receiving credible intelligence about his whereabouts, officers from Idah Division moved to arrest him.
However, Kassim, reportedly surrounded by suspected gang members, resisted arrest.
“The Nigeria Police Force, Kogi State Command wishes to set the records straight on the unverified report being circulated on social media on the de@th of one Muhammed Kassim aka Enemi of Idah, Kogi State,” the statement read.
“The suspect, now deceased, was being alleged of belonging to a member of a syndicate that deals in arms and ammunition running within and outside Kogi State.
“The case is under investigation at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Lokoja. Following a legal intercept from the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Abuja, which indicted one Mohammed Amedu as a member of a syndicate that deals in arms and ammunition running within and outside Kogi State, and the eventual arrest of one of the principal suspects by the DSS Operatives on 22nd June, 2025.
“The case was later handed over to the Kogi State Police Command on 28th June, 2025, for further investigation. The suspect confessed to the alleged crime and mentioned the said Muhammad Kashim aka Enemi of Idah town in Idah Local Government Area, Kogi State, and others as members of the arms-running syndicate.
“Investigation revealed that the late suspect, Muhammad Kashim aka Enemi, was alleged to have purchased 20 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition to test-run an AK47 rifle in his possession from Mohammed Amedu, now in custody.
“Further investigation led to the arrest of additional five suspected members of the syndicate, while two locally made Beretta pistols have been recovered.
“Consequently, on this indictment on the late suspect, Muhammad Kashim aka Enemi, operatives attached to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) were mobilized to Idah on 7th July, 2025, to invite him to report and answer the criminal offenses leveled against him by members of his syndicate.
“This was to enable the Police investigation team carry out discreet and thorough investigation into the case. But Muhammad Kashim aka Enemi jumped the fence of his house and escaped arrest when he sighted the Police Team.
“Based on his refusal to honor Police invitation and escape, the operatives from Idah Police Division were mandated to lay surveillance and arrest him when seen.
“Further to this, on receipt of credible information at Idah Division that Muhammad Kashim aka Enemi, now late, was sighted in a particular location at Idah, the operatives immediately swung into action to arrest him, but he vigorously resisted Police arrest because he was in the midst of other young men suspected to be his gang members.
“But for the numbers of the operatives who doubled their efforts to arrest him, Muhammad Kashim aka Enemi then took to his heels and was given a hot chase.
“To aid his escape, his gang members started attacking the Police operatives with cutlasses, stones, and other dangerous weapons, which gave him the courage to stop and get hold of one of the Police officers’ rifles and began to struggle with him, in an attempt to disarm him and snatch the rifle, while his gang members continued their attack on the Police officers.
“In the process, the rifle they were dragging got fired and hit the suspect on his leg, while his gang members immediately rescued him from the Police and whisked him away with the bullet wound on his leg to an unknown location, where he later d!ed in the hands of his gang members.
“Meanwhile, investigation into the case is still in progress, and all suspects arrested in connection with the alleged crime will be arraigned in a competent court of jurisdiction for prosecution on completion of investigation.”
