By Damola Emmanuel
The Nigeria Police Force high command has revealed that announced that the force’s offensives against kidnappers has yielded a bountiful harvest of arrests.
The Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, made the disclosure during a conference between the top echelon of the force and senior officers, held Monday, at the Force Headquarters, Abuja.
Adamu announced, to the roaring applause of his officers, that his initiative code named Operation Puff Adder, had resulted in the arrest of 424 kidnappers, who were nabbed within 36 days.
The suspects were arrested between May 10, 2019, and June 14, 2019.
Kaduna State topped the chart with the arrest of 101 alleged kidnappers, followed by Katsina State with 79, Nasarawa State-54 and Taraba State-32.
Besides kidnapping suspects, the IGP also announced that 44 murder suspects arrested during the same perio with the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, leading the pack with seven, followed by Kano State which recorded six.
In the same period too, the IGP said the force’s net caught 276 armed robbery suspects with Edo State recording the highest figure of 38, followed by Nasarawa with 25 arrests, and FCT-23.
According to a release issued by Mr. Frank Mba, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, and Force Public Relations Officer, FPPRO, Adamu also disclosed that 10,860 “ammunition of various descriptions and calibre were recovered” while 301 firearms, including a rocket launcher, AK47 assault rifles, pistols and locally made gun, were similarly seized from “criminal elements across the country.”
As in the other cases, Katsina State, according to the IGP’s account, recorded the highest number of arms-80, followed by Edo State with 26, and Kaduna State with 25.
Again, 176 cultists were nabbed across the country during the period under review, just as 77 stolen vehicles were recovered.