Police Arrest 328 Terrorists, 339 Kidnappers, 328 Robbery Suspects
Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Usman Baba, yesterday announced the arrest of a total of 328 terrorists and armed bandits, 325 armed robbery suspects, 339 kidnap suspects and 247 suspected cultists from January 2022 till date.
He disclosed this when he met with Assistant Inspector-Generals of Police (AIGs) and Commissioners of Police in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja to take proactive security measures as the nation prepares for the elections in 2023.
The police boss said the police operatives rescued 307 kidnapped victims, and recovered 510 firearms, 8,906 ammunition including rocket propelled grenades and other Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
He said the meeting was aimed at devising strategies to tackle the spiraling insecurity in the country as well as strengthening the capacity of police officers ahead of the polls.
“This meeting is being convened essentially for three main reasons. First, is to further my leadership approach of periodically reviewing the internal security situation of the country and re-evaluate our strategies with a view to jointly evolving new approaches towards strengthening our internal security operations, particularly in relation to the mitigation of prevalent crimes of banditry, kidnapping for ransom, armed robbery and other highly organised and violent crimes that have overtime, been threatening our national peace and security order.
“Secondly, the meeting is aimed at interfacing with field commanders in evaluating the current political trends, assess possible threats, and commence the groundworks for the upcoming off-season gubernatorial elections in Ekiti and Osun states as well as sharpen our strategies ahead of the 2023 general elections,” he said.
“Indeed, in furtherance to our preparation for the 2023 general elections, we are currently working on enhancing the capacity of officers of the force in election security management.
“Consequently, I have approved the conduct of an election security management training for police officers ahead of the general elections,” he said.
The IG said the training, which will be delivered in partnership with a training and security consultant with vast experience in election security management, will be held across the six geopolitical zones of the country and will commence with the North-Central Zone on August 4, 2022 in Abuja.
“Subsequently, other geopolitical zones will host the training which is designed as a train-the-trainer programme. Your absolute cooperation is mandatory for the overall success of this initiative. Aside this, I also encourage you all to sustain your synergy with the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) and other sister security agencies in your respective states towards ensuring effective coordination and guarantee the success of the entire electoral process.
“Permit me to at this juncture assure citizens of this country of the firm determination of the force, as the lead agency in the election security process that we shall emplace appropriate frameworks that will engender a fair, peaceful, secure, and credible electoral process in both the Ekiti and Osun states gubernatorial elections and during the upcoming 2023 general elections,” he said.
