Call it one of the highest crime busts of all times and you would have hit the nail right on the head!
This is because, the Kaduna State Command of the Nigeria Police Force have, in the past few months, arrested 1503 high-profile criminal suspects, rescued 393 kidnapped victims, recovered four General Purpose Machine Guns, GPMGs, 37 AK47 rifles, 288 anti-aircraft ammunition, among others.
The nation’s number one super cop, the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Usman Alkali Baba, delivered the cherry news on Thursday during a one-day on-the-spot assessment of the security situation in the state.
The IGP, according to a release by the Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, also a Commissioner of Police, commended the Katsina State Police Command for what he described as “its giant strides in combating crimes and criminality in the state, particularly, rolling back the negative trend of the activities of bandits and other criminal elements in the state.”
In particular, IGP Baba commended the command for its efforts at “rescuing kidnapped victims and reuniting them with their families and improving public confidence.”
The one-day visit by the IGP, according to Mba, was part of efforts at “carrying out on-the-spot security assessment in the state, mobilizing members of the public and other credible stakeholders against crimes, boosting the confidence of police operatives in the Command and providing the needed leadership for onslaught against crimes and criminality.”
The IGP, he said, noted that the operational strategies currently being implemented by the Force to stabilize security across the country and improve public safety had begun to yield positive and significant results.
The IGP further noted that in Katsina State, within the past four months of the current administration, a total of 1,503 suspected high-profile criminals were arrested in connection with different violent crimes across the state, including: kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery, sexual and gender-based crimes, among others.
The arrests, Mba continued in the release, included 267 suspected armed robbers, 304 suspected kidnappers, 97 bandits, among others. He also revealed that police operatives also rescued 393 kidnapped victims and reunited them with their families and communities.
The IGP also confirmed that the Force had made tremendous success in breaking the weapon supply chain to bandits as well as other criminal elements in the state. This, he said, was evident in the interception and recovery of sophisticated weapons, including four GPMG, 37 AK47 rifles, two G3 rifles, 288 anti-aircraft ammunition and 118 AK47 ammunition.
Concluding, the IGP assured Nigerians that despite the harsh operational environment in which police officers operate, the force will continue to improve on the gains in the fight against crimes across the country.
IGP Baba urged parents and guardians, traditional rulers, political leaders and religious leaders, as well as other critical stakeholders, to provide necessary leadership, counselling, mentoring and support needed to guide citizens, particularly, the youths, out of the path of crime and criminality.