Army arrest 399 suspects, recovers 20 different arms in Lagos, Ogun

Joy Anyim

No fewer than 399 suspects were arrested and 20 assorted arms recovered by the Nigerian Army during the Exercise Crocodile Smile II which held from October 7th – 28th, 2017 in Lagos and Ogun State.

Disclosing this at the closing ceremony of the exercise which held at 192 Battalion, Ajilete, Ogun State on Saturday, the 35 Artillery Brigade Commander, Brig.-Gen. Bassey Adonkie said the exercise had leveraged on intelligence to flush out pipeline vandals, kidnapers and miscreants.

Speaking on the arrests, he said “The exercise led to the arrest of suspects including armed robbers, kidnappers and recovery of ammunition.

“So far a total of 399 suspects were arrested for different offences across as the south west region and handed over to various security agencies concerned.

“In addition 20 assorted arms were recovered, while illicit drugs were also recovered and handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA),” he said.

The commander, maintained that the exercise had helped in no small measure to reduce criminal activities as the over 1000 officers who participated in the exercise ensured there was no hiding place for miscreants in their various areas of operation.

In his speech, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, who was represented by the Chief of Training and Operations, Maj.-Gen. David Ahmadu said the exercise leveraged on the gains of the crocodile smile 1.

He said, “Experience drawn from exercise crocodile smile I conducted in 2016 revealed that criminals and miscreants had fled from areas of ongoing operations to seek safe haven and cause security menace in areas hitherto regarded as peaceful.

“It was in line with this development, that I deemed it necessary to extend the areas of coverage for this year’s exercise crocodile smile to cover the south west and south south regions of the country.

“In the last few weeks, the troops have traversed several black spots and hideouts both on land and in the creeks. In the process, series of arrests and recoveries were made and the arrested persons have been handed over to relevant security agencies,” he said.

He also stated that the exercise which is a joint operation with sister services and relevant security agencies has no doubt improved comradeship, interagency cooperation and synergy

He emphasized that the closing ceremony should not be regarded as the end of the exercise crocodile smile, but the exercise should serve as an impetus to sustain the current tempo in the conduct of ongoing operation.

The General Officer Commanding (GOC), 81 Division, Maj.-Gen. Peter Dauke, during his opening remark, noted that the exercise was designed to develop and enhance professionalism among units, foster relationship and synergy among participating services, security agencies.

Dauke said, “It was also designed to improve the overall planning and conduct of internal security operations in combating prevalent security challenges.

“It is gladdening to note that the exercise was able to mitigate prevalent security challenges sch as reduction in pipeline vanderlism, militancy, ritual killings, smuggling, kidnapping and drug related offences amongst others.”

The GOC revealed that troops were exposed to the rudiments of administration in the field, operational staff work and battle map marking during the conduct of the operation.

The Ajilete community was also treated to a free medical outreach which included eye screening, dental care, general check up, free drugs amongst others.

The secretary general, council of chiefs in the community, chief Falade Ayinde, appreciated the humanitarian services rendered by the army.

“The medical outreach programme is an interesting one and I want to say it s one of the best our community have had from the government.

“We appreciate the intervention of the army and that of the leaders of the shooting range that is very close to us.

“We are expressing our heart felt joy because of this exercise because many of us will benefit form it and it will remain memorable to us,” ha reports that free eye test, health talks and other medical services was rendered to over 100 community residents in the area,” he said.