The Nigeria Police Force (NPF), on Monday confirmed the arrest of eight suspects, recovery of arms, and ammunitions during operations by the Police Strike Force in Nembe Bassambiri Community in Bayelsa state.
Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, in Abuja, disclosed that the operation followed a petition on activities of armed hoodlums in the area.
The statement read: “Following receipt of a petition from a law firm on the activities of some hoodlums armed with guns and other dangerous weapons who were in the habit of constantly and repeatedly terrorising members of Nembe Bassambiri Community in Bayelsa state, and coupled with other similar complaints and intelligence in that region, operatives of the Police Strike Force were deployed to the area for a combing operation to rid the community of the activities of armed hoodlums.
“Consequently, the operatives swung into action and raided the camps of the hoodlums in and around the Nembe Bassambiri Community on the eve of Saturday 12th August, 2023. The operation led to the arrest of eight suspects including: Gift Vanman, Daniel Solomon, Ishmael Teknikio aka Moore, Rufus Itario, Joel Jubilee, Sylvanus Alatari, Sounpre Solomon, and Ayebanate Talbot (POS).
“Items recovered include three AK-47 Rifles, two pump action guns, one LAR rifle, one jack-knife, one dagger, magazines, 104 rounds of live ammunition of various calibres, two POS machines, 10 ATM Cards, and one rechargeable bulb.”
The spokesperson further stated, “The Police wish to state in clear terms that the operation was carried out by a combined team of police operatives to sanitize the community, and the officers were professional, neutral, and proactive in the mission to liberate members of the community from the terror instilled by the nefarious activities of the armed hoodlums as the Force will not allow lawlessness or gross violations of the laws in any part of the country.
“This is contrary to the distorted narrative in the news making the rounds that the community was attacked by hoodlums dressed in police uniforms. The distorted news is clearly the handiwork of mischief makers and they are hereby warned against such calculated attempts to destabilize the country.”
He added that, “It is also pertinent to send out a warning to all recalcitrant members of the society whose stock-in-trade is instilling fear into law-abiding members of the public and fomenting troubles across the country, to desist from such as the police will leave no stone unturned in the bid to rid our societies of hooliganism, terrorism, and gross violation of extant laws.”
Olumuyiwa further stated that, “The NPF hereby reassures Nigerians of the unwavering commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to attend to security issues affecting them by acting promptly on intelligence to curb such acts in any part of the country.
“Similarly, the Police assures the confidentiality of reliable informants while urging members of the public to partner with the Police and other security agencies with prompt and actionable intelligence on the activities of members of the underworld, and criminally-minded individuals, who foment troubles, commit crimes, and cause instability.
“The IGP reiterates that the operation in Nembe is a signal to other hoodlums with similar intents of causing fear amongst the people with their activities across the country to turn a new leaf or be assured that the long and unbiased arm of the law will catch up with them in no distant time.”
He assured that the suspects would be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations.
