The Nigeria
Police Force said it had arrested 26 suspects for kidnapping, armed robbery,
rape and unlawful possession of prohibited fire arms in Lambata area of
Niger.
The Force
spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, disclosed this while addressing journalists in
Abuja on Tuesday on the arrest.
He named the
suspects as Isa Umar, Nuhu Yahaya, Sanda Saleh, Ali, Okechukwu Atama, Mohammed
Aliyu, Haruna Adamu, Adamu Bello, Abubakar Iliyasu, Safiyu Mohammed among
others.
Mr. Moshood
said that the suspects, who operated at different areas were arrested between
August 8 and 22 in Niger.
He said that
items recovered from them include: Four Ak 47 rifles, cutlasses, cell phones,
wrist watches, Military camouflage and personal effects of their victims.
Mr. Moshood
said that investigations were on to identify the source of the military
uniforms.
The
spokesperson said some of the suspects also specialised in raping their victims.
He said the
suspects had made confessional statements to the police on the various roles
each of them played in the crime.
Mr. Moshood
said that the arrest followed clean-up operations by the “Operation Absolute
Sanity” in Niger, Kaduna, Benue and Kogi.
“The
operation is going to be sustained and the war against crime will be extended
to every part of the country,” he said.
Mr. Moshood
said that the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, commended members of
the community for their support.
Contributing,
Muhammad Usman, Village Head of Lambata, assured that members of his community
would cooperate with the police to fight crime in the area.
He said that
members of the community were ready to give police all the necessary and useful
information to ensure the provision of security of life and property.
The News
Agency of Nigeria recalls that the Force, on July 25, commenced ‘Operation
Absolute Sanity on Abuja-Kaduna Highway.
The team
include: Police Mobile Force, Counter Terrorism Squad, Anti-Kidnapping Unit,
Intelligent Response Team, Special Tactical Squad, Force Intelligence Branch
and Police Helicopters.
NAN recalls
that the operations are to complement and augment the on-going Joint
Police/Military operations on ground before now.
On July 31 and
August 3, the police also arrested 31 and 40 suspects at Katari and Rijana area
respectively along the Kaduna-Abuja road.
(NAN)
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