31,912 individuals have been detained in one year by the Nigeria Police on suspicion of armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, unauthorised firearms possession, cultism, murder, and other crimes.
This was said by ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the Force Public Relations Officer, at a media briefing on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to him, 4,826 of the suspects were taken into custody on charges of armed robbery, 3,078, kidnapping, 2,479, rape, 1,243, illegal firearms possession, 3,523 cultism, 3,381, murder, and 13, 402 other offences.
According to Adejobi, during the period under review, the force saved 1,750 victims of kidnapping, found 2,566 weapons, 19,510 rounds of ammunition, and 1,475 cars and motorcycles across the country.
He said that during that time, the force prosecuted 29,152 criminal cases nationwide, with 17,679 of those cases ending in a conviction and 11,576 of them remaining pending.
According to him, appeals were pending in 51 of the instances at the relevant appellate courts.
“Out of the dispensed cases, an impressive 16,200 have led to the conviction of suspects who have been handed various forms of punishments for their criminal acts,” he stated.
According to Adejobi, members of the Nigeria Police’s Intelligence Response Team (IRT) have detained 19 people in connection with various crimes around the nation.
He said that the suspects had five AK-47 rifles, five pump action rifles, 150 live rounds, a bulletproof jacket, a night vision telescope, and vigilante clothes.
Adejobi stated that additional items found on the suspects included 142 live AK-47 rounds, six magazines, one boot, one torchlight, and one AA round.
Two of the suspects were apprehended for kidnapping, according to a police spokeswoman, thanks to the concerted efforts of IRT agents and a vigilante group in Asawa village, Kogi.
He added that the suspects had already taken N2 million from the fourth operation, N300,000 from the third, and N1 million from the first two.
He stated that the spate of kidnappings and robberies along the Abuja-Okene-Benin road were committed by the suspects.
According to a police spokesman, the suspects have been planning kidnappings for more than four years and have been successful in four of them.
He revealed that after engaging in a hard gunfight with police officers, during which they ran out of ammo, the two’s illegal activities came to a stop.
AK-47 firearms and magazines were found on the suspects, according to Adejobi.
He stated that two individuals with over 22 years of “one chance” robbery experience were also apprehended by police officers.
Adejobi stated that the suspects had exhibited mastery of the deceitful strategies utilised in criminal activities, and that the duo was identified as individuals of interest after interrogating prior ‘one chance’ suspects.
He stated that the suspects were apprehended in Suleja, Niger by vigilant IRT agents.
Adejobi stated that the suspects would be charged in court once the investigations into the cases were concluded.
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cc: Vanguard Ng
