Police Arrest 139 Suspects, Rescue 154 Kidnap Victims, Recover 17 Arms, 604 Ammunition 

Abuja, Nigeria– The Nigerian Police force has arrested 139 suspects and rescued 154 kidnapped victims unharmed within two weeks of its operation.

The operatives recovered 3 GPR Chargers, 2 AK-47 rifles, 1 Type-06, 4 locally fabricated guns, 1 Berretta pistol, 2 Makarov pistols, 4 locally fabricated pump action guns, 504 pieces of AK-47 ammunition, 100 pieces of AA ammunition.

While parading the suspects at the force headquarters in Abuja on Friday, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the Force police Relation Officer, said the operatives intercepted a group of persons along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway who were major suppliers of arms and ammunition to bandits operating in Niger, Zamfara, and Kaduna States.

“In a more recent event, in the early hours of Friday 26th January 2024, men of the IGP-SIS engaged some armed bandits within the FCT-Kaduna axis in a fierce gun battle and neutralised 3 of them including their gang leader, one Mai-Gemu (aka Gadoro). It is crystal clear that with this operation, the gang and its camp have been destroyed.

Adejobi explained that the IGP-SIS operatives on the 21st of January 2024 arrested 2 major gun-running kingpins who had been supplying locally fabricated arms and various types of ammunition to several assailants operating in the North-Central region of the country.

He added that the squad also arrested 2 kidnappers in the Jikwoyi area of the FCT and recovered several arms and ammunition from them after overwhelming the gang in a gun battle which also led to the rescue of their kidnapped victim.

“The Inspector-General of Police, while reiterating that the SIS will be launched beyond the FCT to other states across the country for effective security management in the country, has ordered the tactical deployment of several operatives of the IGP-SIS to areas within the FCT still grappling with security breaches to combat every form of criminality that might surface,” the statement said.