The Edo State Police Command on Wednesday disclosed that no fewer than 332 suspects have been charged to courts in the last two months.
Phillip Ogbadu, the Commissioner of Police in Edo State, disclosed this at a media briefing in his office in Benin on Wednesday.
“From February 5 till date, we have charged 332 suspects out of the 357 arrested within the period to various courts,” Ogbadu said.
He explained that 58 suspects were arrested for alleged kidnapping, while 100 suspects were arrested for alleged cultism.
He further explained that 81 suspects were also arrested for alleged armed robbery and six for alleged rape.
Ogbadu added: “We arrested 50 suspects for alleged murder, seven suspects for alleged defilement.
“We also arrested 16 suspects for unlawful possession firearms, 13 suspects were arrested for alleged murder.”
The CP further disclosed that within the period, 34 victims were allegedly murdered by the suspects, while number of victims allegedly kidnapped were 22.
He further disclosed that within the period, the command recovered one Ak-47 rifle with Breech No. 6244, one Lar Rifle gun and one Pump action gun.
Other arms and ammunition recovered, Ogbadu said, included eight English made double barrel guns, 19 locally made cut-to-size guns and two AK 47 magazines.
“Three Live rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, seven locally made pistols, 28 lives cartridges as well as 15 assorted vehicles were recovered,” he said.
He noted that the command was faced with violent crimes of kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism, murder, rape and burglary among others.
He stressed that in view of that, the command had continued to device security strategies to prevent criminal activities and to ensure a secure, safe and stable environment for economic growth and social interaction.
Ogbadu noted that it had also continued to adopt due diligence, intelligence system of administration, robust tactical operations and ensuring that cases are properly investigated and prosecuted.