The Police in Niger state have arrested 44 notorious criminal suspects who have been terrorising residents of Minna for years.
The Police Public Relations Officer of the Niger state police command, DSP Wasiu Abiodun stated this on Tuesday in a statement in Minna.
He said, “Niger police command has apprehended 44 notorious suspects for criminal conspiracy, armed robbery, thuggery and being in possession of dangerous weapons.”
According to the PPRO, the arrest of the criminals followed recent reports of miscreants’ clashes, thuggery, and pockets of tricycle robberies in parts of Minna metropolis.
He listed such hot areas in Minna city to include Stadium Junction, Limawa, Angwan-Daji, Bosso road, Flamingo junction, Morris junction, Kasuan Gwari and Barkin-Sale, adding that “they have been causing public unrest, inflicting serious injuries on victims and dispossessing unsuspecting members of the public of their valuables.”
DSP Abiodun explained that in a bid to curtail this recent trend and menace, on 13/03/2023 at about 2350hrs, the Command mobilised its tactical teams comprised of Operations Department, CTU, anti-kidnapping unit, tactical support team, Area Command team, various patrol units in the metro and vigilante members, led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police Operations, DCP Ali Hayatu Kaigama to conduct house to house sting operation within the areas.
He said during the raid, the notorious suspects were arrested with different types of dangerous weapons, adding that some of the dangerous weapons recovered from the suspects included 11 cutlasses, four scissors, five knives and four swords.
Other items recovered from the suspects, according to the PPRO include one garotte, five sticks, eight handset phones, three shisha pipes/pots, a big saw, scale, an iron bar, a bottle containing illicit drugs, lighter, screw driver, bunch of keys, and ATM cards.
He said all the suspects have been transferred to SCID for discreet investigation adding that they will be arraigned in court for prosecution with capital offense charges.
According to him, the Commissioner of Police, Niger State Command, CP Ogundele Ayodeji, has expressed satisfaction with the operation, and directed that the operation will be a continuous exercise towards ensuring that Minna metropolis is rid of unguarded elements disrupting the peace of the metro,
