Police nab 93 kidnap suspects, recover rocket launcher, 35 AK 47 rifles, others
Andrew Orolua and Doosuur Iwambe, Abuja
The police said Thursday that a total of 93 kidnap suspects were arrested from different parts of the North-Central, North-Western and North-Eastern parts of the Country by its operatives in a renewed effort to ride the country of kidnapers.
It said that in addition to the arrests, “operatives of Operation Puff Adder recovered 1 rocket launcher, 35 AK47 rifles, 10 locally-made AK47 rifles and 500 live ammunition”.
Also recovered from the hoodlums were “8 locally-made revolver pistols, 10 pairs of military camouflage uniforms, 2 operational vehicles, and other incriminating items.”
A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba, said that the operations leading to these arrests and recoveries were carried out by joint team of Police operatives attached to Operation Puff Adder, North-Central sector.
According to him, the team that made these recovery and arrests consist of detectives from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Force Intelligence Unit, Intelligence Response Team (IRT) and the Special Tactical Squad (STS).
Other operatives in the Joint Mission include personnel from the Police Mobile Force (PMF), the Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU), Special Protection Unit (SPU) and the Special Forces.
Police investigators backed by their counterparts in the Forensic and Technical Intelligence Units have commenced comprehensive investigation of all the 93 suspects arrested in these operations.
The investigations among other things are aimed at tracking, uncovering and disrupting the sources of arms supply to the criminal groups, as well as identifying their collaborators, and bringing all involved in these heinous crimes to justice.
Meanwhile, the IGP, Mohammed Adamu, has hailed police operatives for their sacrifice and resilience, stating that the commitment of the Nigeria Police to restoring sanity on our highways and inner cities has continued to yield positive results.
He further expressed his gratitude to the general public for providing credible intelligence that has helped the police in achieving the successes recorded so far.
