…parades persons in possession of firearms, hard drugs
By Friday Adaga
The Force Intelligence Bureau of the Nigeria Police, particularly the operatives of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) and the Special Tactical Squad (STS) have made major achievements in the fight against crimes and criminality in the country. Recently a total of fifty (50) persons, who are being held for various offenses ranging from kidnapping, armed robbery, gun running, illicit possession of prohibited firearms, unlawful possession and distribution of hard drugs have been thoroughly profiled, investigated, and arrested. Recovered from them were one AK47 rifle, 7 locally made pistols, 2,496 rounds of live AK47 ammunition, cutlasses of different shapes and sizes, housebreaking implements, 5 cartons of tramadol, 4 bags of weed suspected to be Indian hemp amongst others.
In a press briefing by the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), CP Frank Mba, while parading the suspects in Abuja said amongst so many new approaches taken to tackle the challenges of armed robbery, kidnapping and banditry is the conscious effort by the police to cut off the supply of arms and ammunition to these hardened criminals.
“It is now our belief that if we can cause a drought of weapons to flow to the hands of these very dangerous criminals, by this, we will be able to weaken them and make it easier for the police and other law enforcement agents to overrun them and make it difficult for them to operate the way they have been doing. Apart from the systematic mopping up of arms and ammunition, we are working with both our local intelligence forces as well as our international partners in Interpol, Afripol, Wapcol to ensure that we can cut down the free flow of arms and ammunition from the northern part of Africa through the Sahel region into our borders and also from the eastern European countries through the golf guinea into our littoral states”. CP Mba added.
He paraded the first set of suspects, who gave their names as; DanjumaKashung, Marcus Danladi, Shaibu Suleiman and Suleiman Turkur. According to him, he said Danjuma and Marcus were arrested for gun running, and that intelligence operatives have monitored their operations for a while and eventually close up on them, arrested them, and recovered live AK47 ammunition from them. He added that the live ammunition was being transported from Jos to Kaduna and specifically to the leader of one of the bandits within the area. Incidentally, the bandit in question who is currently on the run seems to also be plying out his illicit trade with full consent and support of his family and that explains why Shauibu Suleiman and Suleiman Tukur who are his family members were arrested. Their family house was searched and a total of 231 rounds of live AK47 ammunition were recovered from their home. Another of their brother escaped from the house with an AK49 rifle, he added.
Other suspects paraded were three young men arrested with five cartons of tramadol amounting to 3 million naira, which they were transporting to some bandits in Katsina, who gave their names as; LawalIsmaila, ZaradeenUsman, and MuktarBashiru, all males from Katsina State.
“Again, if you want to know the relationship between drugs and violent crimes, you will understand why we are paying very special attention to these criminals. It is not just that these drugs are destructive to a section of our population but the fact that these drugs provide additional courage to these criminals and that is why when they go out, they act with no mercy, no conscience, no respect for anybody and they spill blood with reckless abandon. Therefore, as we try to mop up illicit weapons, we also must disorganize the free flow of drugs. We will continue to work with our counterparts in NAFDAC and other relevant agencies to ensure that we succeed in this area”. CP Mba said.
CP Mba further assures Nigerians and the country that the police would follow up these cases diligently from the beginning to the end, to ensure that justice is not only done but manifestly seen to have been done.