THE Nigeria Police Force has re-arraigned Mubarak Bello, the whistleblower who exposed a payroll racket at Katsina command, before the Federal High Court in Katsina for alleged unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.
Bello, a resident of Katsina, was charged by the office of the Inspector-General of Police on March 23, 2026, for allegedly possessing a locally made gun, four rounds of live ammunition, and two expended cartridges without a valid licence.
The ICIR reports that Bello was originally charged in a Katsina magistrate court in October 2025 with possession of a forged police ID, impersonation, unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition, and dealing in ATM cards — charges the accused calls “trumped up”.
On March 3, 2026, the Katsina magistrate court discharged Bello, prompting police to file a fresh charge of unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition at the Federal High Court.
Allegations before the court
The new charge alleges that on September 13, 2025, around 3:00 a.m., Bello was intercepted in Kofar Durbi Quarters while driving a Toyota Corolla. Police stopped and searched him, recovering a firearm and ammunition. Bello allegedly failed to produce a lawful license, leading to his arrest and forensic examination of the items.
He was charged under Sections 3 and 8(1)(2) of the Firearms Act, Cap F28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. The police plan to call three witnesses: the arresting officer, investigating officer, and a forensic expert to verify the weapon’s functionality.
Whistleblower background
Bello’s arraignment came amid longstanding harassment, threats to his life and prosecution for his role as a whistleblower in an alleged multi-million-naira payroll fraud at the Katsina State Police Command.
On September 14, The ICIR reported that the police had issued a statement over the arrest of 38-year-old Bello, accusing him of impersonation, possession of a fake police identity card, and unlawful possession of firearms.
The Katsina State police command claimed Bello’s arrest on September 13, 2025, came after a routine night patrol team intercepted his Toyota Corolla. The state Police Public Relations Officer ( PRO), Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu, said officers recovered a locally made rifle, live cartridges and a ‘fake’ police ID card.
However, Bello and sources familiar with the case alleged that his arrest was aimed at silencing him over his whistleblowing activities.
The ICIR gathered that Bello was first given a contract as a typist in 2009 to assist the finance department (formerly Mechanised Salary Section, MSS). Before then, he ran a shop at Kofar Turpi, doing typing jobs for police.
As a contract worker in the finance department, Bello became well acquainted with the processes through which officers’ salaries were administered across the state.
He alleged that fictitious police officers’ names were added to the salary system, diverting millions of naira monthly to accounts linked to Katsina Command finance officers, including the Finance Officer and an Assistant Finance Officer.
In 2019, Bello petitioned multiple anti-corruption agencies, including the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over the alleged “ghost workers” scheme within the command.
Documents reviewed by The ICIR showed that Bello also wrote to the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Police Service Commission in 2020 after his earlier complaints failed to yield action.
In a 2020 petition to the Attorney General, Bello said he was initially instructed to process what he believed were legitimate recruitment documents. He noted that he did not suspect any wrongdoing at first, and when he sought clarification, the officers told him it was part of a “new recruitment process.”
He claimed that he was misled by the officers to forge certificates, open bogus accounts, create appointments and confirmation documents, generate fake promotion and transfer letters.
Bello said when the officers returned for a second phase of the exercise, they asked if he had more names to add to the list, but he refused. According to him, they persisted and eventually pressured him to submit his own name and that of an associate, Muhammad Hussaini, even producing police identity cards for both of them.
During the first and second processes, he listed more than a dozen officers for some of the policemen in the finance unit of the Katsina police command.
Retaliation and arrest
Following his allegations, Bello claimed he became a target of intimidation and repeated attacks. He said threats intensified after he insisted on reporting the incident since December 2019.
In 2020, Bello told investigators from ICPC that police officers raided his home in Sabon Unguwa, Katsina, and his office at the command headquarters, seizing documents and equipment.
He was consequently arrested and detained over impersonating a police officer, claims he maintains were false.
A source at the ICPC source had told The ICIR that some of the claims in Bello’s petition had merit, noting that certain payroll entries he flagged corresponded with suspicious records already unearthed by the agency’s investigation.
Attempts by the ICPC to question officers named in Bello’s petition reportedly stalled after the police authorities failed to grant approval for their appearance. It was reliably gathered that the ICPC Chairman, Musa Adamu Aliyu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), wrote to the Inspector General of Police at the time to release the affected police officers under investigation for questioning but this was never done.
‘I was threatened, attacked’
Speaking with The ICIR, Bello alleged that he had faced multiple threats and physical attacks after exposing the alleged fraud. In earlier accounts, he said police officers raided his home and office, confiscating documents and equipment linked to his claims.
He also recounted being beaten by officers at the Katsina Divisional Crime Officer’s office in 2020.
Independent findings by The ICIR show how thugs attacked him with machetes, leaving deep cuts in October 2024. His head was macheted and his hand suffered deep cuts.
In a voice note obtained and reported by The ICIR, he appealed to acquaintances for help, saying he had been ambushed and was receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre Katsina.
Sources within the ICPC confirmed that Bello had reported several threats to his life before and after submitting his petition. These circumstances, according to some sources, may lend credence to his claim that he carried a locally made firearm for self-defence.
Bello disputes firearms allegations
Bello rejected the police claims against him, insisting the charges are a deliberate attempt to intimidate, victimise and silence him. He maintained that the firearm found in his possession was for self-defence following repeated attacks on his life after he reported the alleged fraud.
“I had no option than to protect myself after the several attacks,” he said, adding that he had applied for a licence to carry a locally made gun and formally notified police authorities, but received no response.
“I wrote to the Katsina Police command to apply for a gun… I followed the process, but they didn’t issue it to me,” he said. “Even after I got the gun, I informed the DC CID and asked for a licence, but they ignored it.”
Bello also disputed claims that a police identity card found in his possession was fake, stating that he had been issued identification documents during his time working with the police.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M