The Akwa Ibom State Police Command on Tuesday
revealed that 275 criminal suspects have been arrested for committing various
crimes, including murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, cultism among other
crimes in the state.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Adeyemi
Ogunjemilusi, who disclosed this, said a grandmother, Ekaette Obot, who claimed
to be 27 years old was among those arrested for stealing and selling of her
granddaughter for N200, 000.
He said most
of the suspects had been charged to court while others are being investigated,
stressing that the police command, had prosecuted 193 cases with 23 convictions
secured.
According to him, 19 locally-made pistols; one pump
action gun and one AK 47 rifle; one Toyota Camry saloon car with registration
number CAL 584 NF; one Toyota Corolla vehicle with reg. no. AA 50 NRJ and a
total of 52 pieces of ammunition had been recovered from the hoodlums.
In an interview, the grandmother, Obot, said she
weeds for people for a fee, saying she sold the child to free her daughter,
Blessing Okon, 18, of burden.
But the Police Commissioner said Obot, who is also
pregnant, informed the police of her plan to sell the baby immediately she
delivered.
Ogunjemilusi equally revealed that two kidnappers
were killed during exchange of fire, and the victim, one Mrs. Comfort Joshua,
rescued from kidnappers in the volatile Etim Ekpo Local Government Area.
“An 83-year old woman, Mrs. Comfort Joshua, was
rescued from kidnappers den in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area on Thursday,
July 19 and two of her abductors gunned down during exchange of fire with the
police.
“We also rescued a two-year, four months old child,
Miss Testimony Bassey, from her abductors in Abia State where six suspects were
arrested in connection with her abduction.
“A four-year-old female child, Bright Monday, was
also rescued from her abductors along Aka road by IBB Roundabouts in Uyo, and
four suspects have been arrested,” he said.
According to the CP, three criminals specialising
in vandalising and stealing of transformer armoured cables, solar panels and
street lights were also arrested and their loots recovered from Ikot Abasi and
Abak council areas.
The command, he said, was determined to sustain the
tempo in crime fighting and protection of lives and property in the state,
explaining that the police have increased visibility policing across the state
to reduce the response time to distress calls.
Pointing out that community policing approach has
attracted the police to the populace and created more confidence in the minds
of Nigerians, the state police boss, Ogunjemilusi, lauded the people and state government
for their support.
He also commended sister security agencies working
with the state police command towards reducing the crime rate in the state.
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