THE Kano State Police Command has arrested 132 suspects for alleged armed robbery and kidnapping within two months in the state.
The command also arrested illicit drug dealers within the period in the North-West state.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Hussaini Gumel, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano on Friday, March 1.
According to Gumel, during the period, the command also apprehended suspected fraudsters, motor vehicles, motorcycle and tricycle thieves, and suspected human traffickers.
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He listed those arrested as 65 suspected thugs (Yandaba), 22 suspected thieves, 25 suspected drug dealers, 11 kidnap suspects, and nine suspected illegal forex hawkers.
The CP disclosed that at that time, the command recovered goods and items and saved the lives of two victims of human trafficking and four kidnapping victims.
Items recovered from the suspects, according to the CP, include two AK-47 rifles, one locally-made pump-action rifle, and four live cartridges.
He added that since January 1, there had been a noticeable decrease in major crimes across the state, including armed robbery, kidnapping, cattle rustling, auto theft, drug dealing, and thuggery.
“The trend has been significantly surmounted as further efforts are ongoing to recover more and to unite the children with their biological parents,” the CP said of human trafficking and children allegedly saved from traffickers by the police in the state.
He claimed that by seizing and recovering some vehicles, the command was able to destroy and dismantle transnational networks of auto thieves, adding that the chain of illicit drug dealings has also been dismantled.
According to him, this significantly decreased banditry, abduction, and associated crimes by clearing their camps and hideouts, which allowed them to infiltrate the soft target areas.
He added that the seasonal farmer/herder conflicts that were common in the local government areas of Makoda, Sumaila, and Tudun Wada had been reduced by ongoing community policing activities.
The ICIR reported that Nigeria’s Federal Government and state governors agreed on creating state police to tackle insecurity in the country.
This was part of the outcome of a meeting between President Bola Tinubu and state governors at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Thursday, February 15.
The ICIR reports that there have been calls for state police in response to the country’s growing security concerns.
Kidnapping and banditry are two security issues Nigeria has struggled with in recent years after over a decade of fighting terrorism.
A report by The ICIR examined cases of kidnapping, ransom payment and the cost of being kidnapped in Nigeria.
A reporter with the ICIR
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