The Nigeria Police Force in its ongoing efforts to combat crime and criminality and curb the proliferation of illegal weapons in the country has recorded several notable breakthroughs in the past two months.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, revealed this in a statement he issued in Abuja on Thursday.
The statement was issued after the parade of some of the suspects and the recovered arms and ammunition.
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According to Adejobi, the efforts to combat crime and criminality by the police in the last two months led to the arrest of 1,412 suspects for various violent crimes, including 548 suspects for armed robbery, 242 for kidnapping, 365 for murder/homicide and 237 suspects for rape/defilement.
He said 350 illicit firearms and 4,055 ammunition of various calibers were equally recovered from across the country within the period under review, while 113 kidnap suspects were rescued unhurt and re-united with their families.
Prominent amongst these breakthroughs was the arrest of one Yusuf Ismael Isah, aged 32, a plumber from Okene, Kogi State, by gallant operatives of the Force.
According to investigations, he was part of the seven-man gang that launched a fatal attack on the convoy of Apostle Johnson Suleman, the Founder of Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide, Auchi, Edo State on October 21, 2022 along Benin-Auchi Road, wherein six people, including three police officers, were gruesomely murdered.
Adejobi said Intelligence revealed that the seven-man syndicate has been actively involved in kidnapping operations within Edo State and its environs and have carried out about four kidnapping operations between 2021 and 2023 before the gang was eventually busted by the Police.
The FPRO said exhibits recovered from the suspect upon his arrest in Ondo State included five AK47 Rifles, two K2 Assault Rifles, 180 Rounds of Live Ammunition, four suspected locally made Improvised Explosive Devices, one pistol and four rounds of 9mm ammunition.
Similarly, five suspects were apprehended in Abuja for conspiracy and kidnapping.
The suspects: Emu Larry Chidiebere ‘m’ 34; Samuel Balogun ‘m’ 22; Williams Banjo ‘m’ 28; Babatunde Femi ‘m’ 30; and Nneka Opara ‘f’ 32, were arrested for kidnapping a foreign national and obtaining a ransom of $2,000 from his relatives.
The suspects held the victim hostage in an apartment from May 30, 2023 to June 2, 2023.
The suspects took pictures of the victim and forwarded the pictures and threat messages to the girlfriend of the victim in Zurich, Switzerland, who eventually sent them the sum of $2000 via Western Union on June 1, 2023.
Adejobi said additionally, the police has sustained a continuous assault on the camps of some non-state actors in the South East enforcing an illegal sit-at-home order, particularly in Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi States.
He said in Enugu, four suspects were neutralised following a gun duel with operatives of the Force on July 7, 2023, while one AK47 with 19 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and two molotov cocktails were recovered.
In Ebonyi State, 17 suspects were arrested following a raid on the hideout of secessionist agitators on July 5 and 6, 2023, while one locally made revolver, two vehicle number plates and three live ammunition were recovered.
Similarly in Imo State, police operatives arrested 26 hoodlums following the murder of a young man in their rampage, and successfully recovered five firearms, 66 live ammunition and several other exhibits.
Adejobi quoted the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, as reiterating the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to continually ensure the safety and security of all and sundry, while emphasising that his administration will leave no stone unturned in the effort to suppress and decimate criminality and the heinous activities of non-state actors who cause pain, hardship and sorrow to innocent law abiding members of the Nigerian society.
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