Security Task Force Moves against Bandits in Seven States

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

A joint security task force comprising all the security agencies yesterday swooped on a mining site in Nasarawa State and arrested three Chinese nationals and 18 other suspects said to be collaborating with armed bandits.

This comes as the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Usman Baba, warned administrative staff of police colleges against extortion of the 10,000 police recruits billed to commence training on January 10 for the 2020/2021 training exercise.

The operation, codenamed G-7, is aimed at tackling the menace of kidnapping, banditry and other criminal activities in seven states, notably, Kogi, Niger, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Bexnue, Plateau and the Federal Capital Territory.

A statement issued by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command said the operation sought to promote confidence building in order to take the fight to the miscreants in their hideouts at the various boundaries between the FCT and the contiguous states so as to enhance safety and security within and around the states.

“The continuation of yesterday’s operation in Matte, Kwali Area Council, to reclaim the village which was recently invaded by suspected bandits, was successfully and immediately followed up with deployments to provide the needed security going forward.

“Following the above, the JTF on Tuesday January 4, 2022, in compliance with the G-7 mandates on day two of their operation, continued the patrol of villages sharing boundaries with Nassarawa state. The team upon the receipt of actionable intelligence stormed a camp at Azam village where an illegal mining site of about 40 minutes walking distance from the said village was discovered”, it said.

“The miners, who were said to have established a symbiotic relationship with bandits/ kidnappers engaged the team in a gun duel and were forced to retreat, subsequently over powered by the superior fire power of the JTF and arrested.”

The team recorded the successful arrest of about 21 illegal miners on the sites including foreign nationas”, it said.

The command said most of the arrested suspects were from the contiguous states, confessing to have enjoyed unfiltered cooperation with the head of the local community, who was immediately taken into custody alongside the arrested suspects.

“The three male Chinese national suspects arrested in connection with the offecse will be officially handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service with a view of establishing their immigration status in Nigeria”, it said.

Upon arrest, exhibits recovered included refined and unrefined gold, two gold weighing scales, criminal charms, 17 mobile phones, four motorcycles, two dane guns, shovels, cutlasses, two pumping machines, one generator, substances suspected to be cannabis and other forms of hard drugs.

It said the two suspects linked with the possession of the aforementioned drugs would be handed over to the NDLEA.

The suspects would be charged to court upon completion of investigation.

“The FCT Commisioner of Police, Mr Babaji Sunday, while registering the command’s unflinching commitment to the crusade against crime and criminality in the state, urged residents not to relent in cooperating with the police”, it said.

Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Usman Baba, warned directing and administrative staff of police colleges against extortion of the 10,000 police recruits billed to commence training on January 10 for the 2020/2021 training exercise.

He spoke at a meeting with commandants of police colleges at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.

“Let me use this medium to remind you of this administration’s zero tolerance to acts of corruption or extortion of any form. Accordingly, there must be no form of extortion of the recruits by the directing, drill staff or any other staff of the police colleges.

“Note that the force management team has our ears on the ground and any form of infraction on this directive will be visited with severe sanction and appropriate disciplinary measures”, he said.

The IG disclosed that adequate provisions were made by the federal government for the welfare of the recruits and the staff of the training colleges.

He said the recruit training for the 2020/2021 Phase of the Nigeria Police Recruitment exercise would commence on January, 10, 2022 which would take place in the four premier police colleges in Lagos, Kaduna, Maiduguri and Orji River, Enugu State as well as in 12 other police training institutions spread across the country.