100 plainclothes policemen drafted to Ore, Lokoja

No fewer than 100 plainclothes policemen have been drafted to Ore in Ondo State and Lokoja in Kogi State by the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, to forestall possible blood shedding of travellers and kidnapping.
A police source revealed that Abubakar last weekend ordered the Task Force on Terrorism and Heinous Crime to mount 24 hours surveillance on Ore in Ondo State and Lokoja in Kogi State, not just as a proactive measure but apparently also based on an intelligence report.
The source explained that the measure taken by the IGP was to nip in the bud any attempt by kidnappers or insurgents to bomb passengers travelling to various parts of the country through the two states’ routes.
The source added: “You know Ore and Lokoja are towns and routes which passengers usually pass through on journeys to eastern parts of the country and Abuja.
“Everybody also knows that most travellers stop along Ore and Lokoja to eat or rest.
“The IGP does not want the insurgents or kidnappers to take passengers and security agents unaware, thus the reason for his quick and decisive action.”
According to another police officer, the Commander of the Task Force, Garba Baba Umar, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, has sent the first batch of 56 operatives to Lokoja and Ore.
It is gathered that Umar is also presently preparing another batch of detectives to check the activities of kidnappers in Ore and other black spots in South East geopolitical zone.
It would be recalled that no fewer than 80 passengers travelling from the eastern part of the country to Lagos were two weeks ago rescued from kidnappers by a team of policemen from the IGP Task Force on Terrorism and Heinous Crimes.
The passengers were said to have been trailed from the point they boarded the bus to Ore by the kidnappers who later escaped through bush paths after police intervention.