The Nigeria Police Force apprehended 31,912 individuals nationwide over the past year for a variety of criminal activities, including armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, illegal possession of firearms, cultism, murder, and other offenses.
During a media briefing on Wednesday in Abuja, Force Public Relations Officer ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi provided the statistics. He reported that 4,826 suspects were detained for armed robbery, 3,078 for kidnapping, 2,479 for rape, 1,243 for illegal firearm possession, 3,523 for cultism, 3,381 for murder, and 13,402 for various other crimes.
Adejobi highlighted that the force successfully rescued 1,750 kidnap victims and recovered 2,566 firearms, 19,510 rounds of ammunition, and 1,475 vehicles and motorcycles over the reviewed period.
Moreover, the force prosecuted 29,152 criminal cases across the country, with 17,679 cases reaching a conclusion and 11,576 cases still ongoing. Additionally, 51 of these cases are currently under appeal in the appellate courts.
“Out of the dispensed cases, an impressive 16,200 have led to the conviction of suspects who have been handed various forms of punishments for their criminal acts,” he said.
Adejobi announced that the Intelligence Response Team of the Nigeria Police had recently arrested 19 individuals involved in criminal activities nationwide.
He pointed out that recovered from these suspects were five AK-47 rifles, five pump action rifles, 150 live cartridges, one bulletproof jacket, a night vision telescope, and vigilante uniforms.
Also, items seized included a torchlight, a boot, one AA ammunition, six magazines, and 142 rounds of AK-47 live ammunition.
Among the arrests, two suspects were apprehended in Asawa village, Kogi, through the coordinated efforts of IRT operatives and local vigilantes.
These suspects had collected ransoms of N1 million from their first two operations, N300,000 from the third, and N2 million from the fourth.
They were identified as responsible for a series of robberies and kidnappings along the Abuja-Okene-Benin road and had been active for over four years. Their criminal run ended after a gun battle with police operatives, resulting in their capture once they exhausted their ammunition, and the recovery of AK-47 rifles and magazines.
In another operation, two suspects with over 22 years of experience in “one chance” robbery were arrested in Suleja, Niger, by IRT operatives. These individuals had developed sophisticated deceptive tactics, and were identified during the interrogation of previous “one chance” suspects.
Adejobi stated that the suspects will face charges in court upon the conclusion of the investigations.
