Police Parade 61 Suspects in Nasarawa

Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia

The Nasarawa State Police Command yesterday paraded 61 criminal suspects arrested in the state in the past one month.

The state Police Commissioner, Mr. Adesina Soyemi, who paraded the suspected criminals at the state Police Command headquarters in Lafia, said that the police recovered the sum of N423,950 during the operation.

Addressing journalists when parading the 61 criminal suspects, CP Soyemi gave a breakdown of the suspects arrested by the command to include 13 armed robbers, 16 kidnappers, seven rail track vandals and internet fraudsters, as well as 18 cultists.

The police commissioner said that the command, during the operations, arrested a fake military officer and recovered an Ak-47 rifle, two magazines and a vehicle suspected to be stolen.

Soyemi said: “On 12/09/2021 at about 1900hrs, one Timothy Emmanuel (M) of Bakin Chiyawa village, Quanpan LGA of Plateau State was intercepted along B.A.D road, Lafia wearing military uniform in possession of AK-49 rifle with two magazines and driving a black Toyota Corolla vehicle with registration number: ABUJA BWR 973 CD, suspected to be a stolen vehicle.

“In continuation of onslaught against cultist in Nasarawa State, on 16/08/2021 at about 0222hrs, while working on actionable intelligence at the disposal of the Police Command which indicated that, cultists have invited their members from different places and planned to launch attack within the Isah Mustapha Agwai Polytechnic, Lafia and its environs during matriculation ceremony.

“Police operatives of the Command’s Anti Cultism Unit launched a manhunt of the cultists which led to the arrest of the following suspected cultist: Na’allah Ibrahim Fahad; a pre HND Accounting student of Isah Mustapha Agwai Polytechnic, Lafia and the Capon/Leader of the Black Axe confraternity in the institution.”

Other suspected cultists arrest during the operation, according to the police commissioner, include Abbas Umar, ND II student of the Polytechnic; Abimiku Murtala Lucky Ovey, 100 levels Computer Science student of the Federal University, Lafia and Okoli Bright, 100 level Political Science student of the University of Jos.

Soyemi said other items recovered by the command during the operation included five firearms with four ammunition, two magazines, four vehicles, five handsets and one laptop.