The Kogi State Police Command has arrested a 23-year-old woman, Charity Williams, during a raid on a suspected criminal hideout in Oguda village, Okene, recovering firearms, ammunition, and more than ₦2 million in cash.

According to a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, SP William Aya, the operation was carried out after a tip-off led operatives attached to the Okene Division to storm Yuwander Lodge, alleged to be used as a base by armed robbery suspects.

“Upon searching one of the rooms which was booked by one Christopher Christopher Kadiri, a lady named Charity Williams, aged 23 years, was arrested and the above exhibits were recovered from the room,” Aya stated.

Items recovered included one locally made Beretta pistol, one locally made barrel gun, six rounds of 9mm live ammunition, hard drugs, an axe, four mobile phones, and ₦2,047,300 in cash.

The police disclosed that the prime suspect, Kadiri, fled moments before the raid, but assured that efforts are ongoing to apprehend him.

In a related development, operatives attached to the Ofu Division recovered another locally made barrel gun, a cutlass, and a Tecno phone at Ogbakpedo village along the Itobe–Ayingba road. The recovery followed intelligence that suspected kidnappers had been sighted in the bush, but they fled on sighting the police.

The Commissioner of Police, Miller G. Dantawaye, commended the officers for their swift action, describing the arrests and recoveries as further proof of the command’s commitment to tackling crime across the state.

Security analysts note that Williams’ arrest highlights a growing trend in which female associates of suspected criminals are increasingly being drawn into illegal operations — often renting rooms, carrying cash, or shielding fugitives to help evade police detection.

Kogi State, located at the heart of North-South transport routes, has in recent years become a major hotspot for armed robbery and kidnapping-for-ransom. Police raids on suspected hideouts and forest camps are seen as critical to disrupting these networks, which rely heavily on local accomplices for logistics and concealment.