Police Arrest 1575 Suspects, Including 199 Rapists, 295 Robbers, 271 Murderers Last Month – FPRO

•By Our Reporter

ABUJA – The Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Headquarters, on Thursday, at the FIB – IRT Office, in Guzape, Abuja said, operatives of the Force have made significant arrests of criminal suspects for various offences across Nigeria, in the last one month.

This, the Force said is in line with the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun’s policing vision which is to have a “Police Force that is professionally competent and well-positioned to carry out the constitutional mandate of the force which is the protection of lives and property, and maintenance of law and order,” among others.

The Force Spokesperson, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi during the parade of criminal suspects arrested for various offences across the country disclosed that, “Over the last month, the Nigeria Police Force has made remarkable achievements in the fight against crime and criminality including violent crimes, recording the arrest of 295-armed robbery suspects, 186 kidnappers, 271 Murder/Homicide suspects, and 71 suspects for the unlawful possession of Firearms.

“The Force also arrested 199 suspects for sexual-related offences, 143 suspects arrested for cultism, and 1575 suspects arrested for other various crimes.

“The total number of firearms recovered stands at 185, with a total number of 4087 ammunition of various calibres recovered, 111 vehicles recovered and 129 rescued kidnapped victims.”

The FPRO, however, revealed the notable successes recorded by the Nigeria Police Force in its recent anti-crime efforts with several remarkable accomplishments nationwide during the period under review.

According to Adejobi, “The IGP Special Task Force on Petroleum and Illegal Bunkering (IGP-STFPIB) in its efforts to put an end to oil theft, illegal bunkering and economic sabotage on the 12th September, 2024 in collaboration with operatives of the Rivers State Command discovered, raided, and destroyed a storage facility in Trans Amadi, Rivers State used for dealing and processing illegally acquired crude oil.

“The operation led to the arrest of Four suspects namely: Emmanuel Nwachi ‘m’ 58yrs, Adamu Bala ‘m’ 35yrs, Nura Musa ‘m’ 22yrs, Bashir Abubakar ’m’ 28yrs and recovery of 40,000ltrs of petroleum products stored in 67 white storage tanks. Suspects would be charged to court accordingly upon conclusion of investigation.”

He also stated that, “On 15/09/2024 at about 9:15 pm, one Valentine Igbinevbo ‘m’ reported at the Ugbowo Divisional Police Headquarters, Edo State that his Mercedes Benz C350 car with Reg No. KWL 195 KC was snatched by two armed men and his friend named Iyobo Ighodaro ‘m’ 21yrs was kidnapped in the process.

“Police operatives immediately swung into action and trailed the hoodlums to their hideout in Egor where a gun duel ensued which led to the death of one of the kidnappers and the kidnapped victim was rescued unhurt. One locally made cut-to-size gun, one live cartridge, one cutlass, and three handsets were recovered from the scene. Efforts are being intensified to apprehend other fleeing gang members.”

Speaking further on the illicit activities of the suspects, the Force Spokesperson narrated that, “On 12/09/2024, at about 4:30 pm, operatives of the FID-STS on investigation activities in Kaduna State intercepted one Zaharadeen Abdulsalam ‘m’ 33yrs of Jos Plateau State and one Abdullahi Tahir ‘m’ 35yrs of Kidandan village Kaduna, along Kaduna-Bauchi Road in a tinted Peugeot 406 vehicle.

“On the spot search led to the discovery of 3,700 rounds of 7.62x39mm, 170 rounds of 7.62x51mm nato live ammunition.

“The suspects confessed that the ammunition were for onward delivery to one notorious armed bandit named Yellow Jabros at Galadimawa forest Kaduna who terrorizes parts of Kaduna, Katsina, and Zamfara states. Suspects are helping the Police in investigation as to the source of these ammunitions and would be charged to court upon conclusion of investigation.”

Furthermore, Adejobi explained that, on the 12/09/2024, at about 10:15 am, operatives of the FID-STS on investigation activities in Kaduna state intercepted and arrested one suspect identified as Tijjani Dalja while suspect was trying to deliver some military wears which include 20-military jungle hats, 13 head warmers, 5 inner t-shirts, and 5 side bags to a notorious bandit known as Yello Jabros of Galadimawa forest.”

He also emphasized that, “On 15/09/24 at about 6: 10 pm, gunmen suspected to be members of the proscribed Ipob-Esn militia in many vehicles attacked Njaba Divisional Headquarters in Imo State.

“They were met by a fierce resistance by Police Operatives who were on duty at the Division which lead to the death of three of the gunmen. One Lexus 470 vehicle, Mercedez Benz Glk, Toyota Venza, one General-purpose machine gun (GPMG), and one AK-47 Rifle were recovered in the process.”

In today’s press briefing, ACP Adejobi explained that, “We have a total of 12 suspects arrested by the gallant operatives of the FID-IRT. The suspects have all given their confessional statements and are still providing our operatives with relevant information to aid in the apprehension of other criminal element who threaten the peace and sanctity of our dear Country.

“We have also recovered a total of 15 Ak-47 rifles, 7 pistols, 571 Rounds of live ammunition of various calibres including 7.62mm and 9mm live ammunition and some cartridges from the apprehended suspects.

“The operatives have also recovered Seven AK-47 rifles, Two (2) Berretta Pistols, One Type 06, and One (1) riot gunner in a coordinated operation in Ughelli, Delta State.”

The cases for the Thursday briefing, the Force Spokesperson said include the arrest of suspected gunrunners, namely, Taimako Mato ‘m’, John Danladi ‘m’, Mohammed Munkail ‘m’, Willia, Manasseh ‘m’ and Muhammadu Haddi ‘m’

Exhibits recovered from the suspects include 1 PKT machine gun, 40 rounds of 37.2MM and 95rounds OF 62MM cartridge ammunition.

According to Adejobi, operatives of FIB-IRT acting on credible intelligence, carried out an intense investigation, leading to the arrest of the suspects and the recovery of the exhibits mentioned above.

During interrogation, he said the “suspects each voluntarily confessed their roles as a working gunrunning syndicate operating across Bauchi and Plateau States.

“Taimako Mato who was an instructor on weapon handling for the youth of his community and a Boko Haram Camp, confessed to having stolen the PKT Machine gun and an unspecified quantity of its ammunition from a Boko Haram Terrorist abandoned vehicle. Part of the stolen ammunition had been sold to John Danladi through William Manasseh, who served as a middleman.

“John Danladi deals in the sale of assault rifles and had sold 3 AK47 Rifles to Munkaila and bought hundreds of rounds of ammunition from Taimako Mato. Meanwhile, Mohammed Munkaila offered to buy the PKT Machine Gun from Danladi.

“Munkaila has also confessed to purchasing three AK47 Rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition from Danladi, which he then resold. In a related development, Muhammadu Haddi was apprehended after being informed about the availability of ammunition for sale. He contacted Mohammed Munkaila to purchase the rounds, leading to his arrest.”

The Force Spokesperson also said one Lawali Ibrahim ‘M’, Umar Ibrahim ‘M’ and Abubakar Dan Mubi ‘M’ were arrested over the case of kidnapping and murder with out any exhibit.

He said, “Acting on credible intelligence, the operatives of FID-IRT carried out an intense investigation, leading to the arrest of the suspects mentioned above. The suspects voluntarily confessed their roles in the kidnapping and murder of one Abubakar Muhammad ‘m’.

“Lawali Ibrahim ‘m’ was arrested in Unguwan Fadama Dorayi, Kano State. He then confessed that he, Umar Ibrahim ‘m’ and Abubakar Dan Mubi ‘m’ had conspired to kidnap and kill Abubakar Muhammad.

“Following this information, operatives of FID-IRT proceeded to Jigawa State and made the arrest of Umar Ibrahim at Gilma Town in Taura LGA of Jigawa State. Subsequently, Umar Ibrahim confessed that he and Abubakar Dan Mubi had kidnapped Abubakar Muhammad at Babban Gida Forest, Yobe State and kept him for one week as their hostage.

“They negotiated and Collected the Sum of N3,500,000 as r ansom and shared among themselves, whereby Umar Ibrahim got the sum of N100,000. After the collection of the Ransom, Abubakar Dan Mubi then proceeded to kill Abubakar Muhammad, leaving his body in the Babban Gida Forest in Yobe State.”

However, ACP Adejobi reiterated that the Force is striving towards the achievement of a stable society.

He stressed that the, “Force remains optimistic that synergy amongst security agencies, and collaboration with the good citizens of this country would bear positive fruits towards bringing this to fruition.”

•INDEPENDENTNG.