Nigeria Police have arrested 31 persons suspected to be involved in armed robbery and kidnapping for ransom on the Abuja-Kaduna Highway.

Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood made this known at a news briefing on Monday in Katari, said the suspects belonged to different criminal gangs.

Moshood, a Chief Superintendent of Police said the arrest was sequel to the deployment of additional police teams on the Kaduna-Abuja road to tackle kidnapping and armed robbery cases.

The teams are made up of Police Mobile Force, Counter Terrorism Squad, Anti-Kidnapping Unit, Intelligent Response Team, Special Tactical Squad, Force Intelligence Branch and Police Helicopters.

Moshood said the teams had made significant achievement since it came on board.

He said several serviceable AK- 47 rifles used by the suspects to terrorise the communities and commuters were also recovered.

The spokesman said the suspects had made confessional statements to the police on the various roles each of them played in the commission of the crime.

We will continue to build on these successes to ensure that crimes that cannot be prevented are promptly detected,”he said.

He said the police would continue to build on the current successes to ensure that the last kidnapper was removed from the Kaduna-Abuja highway, assuring all the communities along the route and other parts of the country that the operations would be sustained to curtail crime across the country.

Moshood said the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, commended members of the community for their support.

The District Head of Katari, Gambo Giwa who spoke to newsmen, called for the sustenance of surveillance to prevent crimes in the community.

The district comprised of six villages of Bishiri, Rijana, Katari, Aruko and Koronsohuwa.

He said the community had witnessed so many atrocities including rape, killings and armed robbery unleashed by the suspects.

Gambo said members of the community were ready to cooperate with the police for the continued provision of security.

The police on July 25 commenced ‘Operation Absolute Sanity on the Abuja-Kaduna Highway, also the operation is to complement and augment the on-going Joint Police and Military operations on ground before now.

In a related development, the FCT Commissioner of Police, Musa Kimo, has warned a group against its planned protest to block major roads in the territory..