Nigeria Police says it has arrested 48 suspects in connection with kidnapping, murder, armed robbery, cattle rustling, cyber crimes, unlawful possession of prohibited weapons and other related offences in the country.

The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), CP Frank Mba, who disclosed this at a news conference on Thursday in Abuja, said a female was among the suspects.

Mba said a total of 27 weapons of assorted makes with 14 of them from Kalashnikov family, two submachine guns, one pump action, a Berretta pistol and other kinds of weapons were recovered.

The FPRO said laptops, phones, POS machines and assorted charms were also recovered from the suspects.

He said a five-man robbery gang that had earlier attacked two policemen riding on a motorcycle and took away their rifles were among the suspects.

He said the policemen were on motion when the gang took advantage of their vulnerability to bring them down and took away the riffles.

According to him, following that incident, operatives of the police opened up an investigation and a careful follow-up led to the arrest of the alleged gang members.

He said the gang members had allegedly carried out a robbery operation in a pharmaceutical shop in Kubwa area of Abuja.

“In that incident, one of the suspects shot himself mistakenly in the course of trying to fire the gun and this eventually assisted the police operatives to trace and effect arrest on the suspect.

“This led to the arrest of other members of the gang and the subsequent recovery of the two rifles,” he said.

Mba said the police had also arrested eight suspects in connection with the kidnapping of a member of the Taraba House of Assembly.

He said the suspects had collected N30 million as ransom before the release of the lawmaker, adding that they were arrested following investigation by the police.

The FPRO said that police also recovered from the suspects four Ak47 rifles, one pump action, one locally-made pistol and 50 rounds of live ammunition.

Mba said that the police also arrested two suspects in connection with unlawful possession and distribution of illicit drugs, suspected to be cocaine.

According to him, following the trajectory of crime all over the world, it is clear that illicit drugs have been an enabler of crimes.

He said that drugs provide criminals with courage and put them in the ecstasy to kill without conscience.

He said investigations revealed that the two suspects were suppliers of illicit drugs to bandits operating in Nasarawa.

He said the police were in the process of cutting off the supply chain for drugs, arms and ammunition to criminals in the country.

Mba said 13 suspects aged between 22 and 30 had also been arrested in connection with internment fraud and scams.

He said 18 phones of different makes, two laptops, one iPad, one POS machine, nine ATM cards and other items were recovered from the suspects.

“They operate under different pretences, some claim to be American Soldiers on peace Keeping Mission in Iraq, create profiles with fake names, fake identities and fake pictures.

“They portray themselves as such and post the pictures on dating websites to wait for victims, who are usually American ladies.

“Some of them claim to be medical doctors, engineers handling key operations in China and other parts of the world and once they get a victim, they ensure that they extorted her endlessly,” he said.

READ THE POLICE’S FULL STATEMENT:

OPERATION PUFF ADDER II – POLICE ARREST 48 NOTORIOUS CRIMINAL SUSPECTS

– Recover 14-AK47 Rifles, 27 other prohibited firearms, 4 POS Machines, others

Following the flag-off of ‘Operation Puff Adder II’ by the Inspector General of Police, IGP M.A Adamu, NPM, mni on 15th February, 2021, to reinvigorate the ongoing fight against violent crimes in the country and bring the perpetrators to book, operatives of the FIB Intelligence Response Team and Special Tactical Squad of the Force attached to the Operation Puff Adder II have arrested forty-eight (48) criminal suspects, including forty-seven (47) male and one (1) female, for their involvement and indictment in cases of armed robbery, kidnapping, unlawful possession of firearms, cybercrime/financial fraud and other heinous crimes in some parts of the country.

Forty-one (41) prohibited firearms including fourteen (14) AK47 rifles, ten (10) AK47 Magazines, fifty-eight (58) live cartridges, four (4) AK47 live ammunition, four (4) POS Machines, two (2) laptop computers, eighteen (18) mobile phones, Internet MODEM and nine (9) ATM cards were recovered from the suspects in the operations.

Notable among the breakthroughs, is the arrest of the nine (9) criminal suspects responsible for the kidnap of Honourable Mohammed Bashir Bape, Member, Taraba State House of Assembly in December, 2020.

The suspects were apprehended at their various hideouts in Taraba and Plateau States following an intense search by the Police team for the perpetrators of the crime and follow-up on recent spike in Kidnapping/armed robbery in Taraba and the North-Central States of the Country.

They are Yusuf Abubakar, 31yrs native of Jalingo LGA Taraba state, Muntari Umar, 27yrs Native of Mayo Belwa LGA Adamawa State, Ahmadu Dahiru, 28yrs, native of Lau LGA, Taraba State, Ali Alhaji Wurungo, 25yrs native of Lau LGA Taraba State, Buhari Nuhu, 25yrs, native of Jalingo LGA, Mohd GARBA, 30yrs, native of Mararaban Gasol, Taraba State, Yusuf Jibrillah 23yrs, native of Mararaban Gasol Taraba State, Adamu Ahmadu aka Bulala 32yrs, native of Taraba State and one Idi Suleiman.

Investigations by the Police team revealed that the suspects are members of a notorious armed robbery/kidnapping syndicate that specializes in terrorizing innocent citizens in the North-Central/North East States particularly in Plateau and Taraba States.

Police investigations have uncovered the roles played by each member of the gang during the kidnap of the Honourable Member. Investigations also established how the proceeds of the crime (ransom) were shared among the suspects.

The Police operatives also arrested a 12-man cybercrime syndicate for internet fraud and other cyber-related offences.
The suspects, with their ages within the range of twenty-two (22) and thirty (30), were arrested at a residence in Kubwa area of the Federal capital Territory (FCT), Abuja following intelligence received by the Police.
Similarly, the Police team busted a 2-man gang of a 61-year-old physically challenged man, Musa Usman from Kebbi State who resides in Anambra State and one Ahmed Shuaibu, 27years, native of Nasarawa State for complicity in the distribution and sale of illicit/dangerous drugs to bandits in their camps at Babuga, Nasarawa State. The physically challenged man has been taking advantage of his physical state to evade police attention until his eventual arrest.

Thirty-five wraps of substance suspected to be Cocaine, were recovered from the suspects.

The Inspector General of Police, while noting that the Operation Puff Adder II is already yielding positive results barely ten (10) days after it was flagged-off, has assured that the Force will not relent in its commitment at re-dominating and reclaiming the public space from criminals that are hell bent on threatening the internal security order of the country and bringing such suspects to justice.