THE Nigeria Police Force says a total of 6,531 suspects have been arrested, as well as 2,037 firearms and 21, 870 rounds of ammunition of various forms been recovered in 2019

The police also, disclosed that a total of 1, 662 vehicles were recovered and 945 kidnapped victims were rescued but failed to give the total number of convicted suspects and those under prosecution.

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu during the end of the year conference with Strategic Police Managers on Monday in Abuja said, such records were achieved through the sacrifices of the personnel and the cooperation of the people.

“All these achievements would not have been possible without the sacrifice of all of you seated here as well as other officers across all ranks who are out there sacrificing day and night for the safety and security of citizens of our beloved nation,” Adamu said, as he appreciated the efforts attained so far.

Adamu who noted that the confidence of the citizens in the police is being restored said there has been a slow orientation for the force, however, a significant improvement in its operational capacity.

“Our intelligence generation and utilisation capacity, as well as our operational competence have been significantly enhanced such that today, I can confidently confirm that we have succeeded in addressing the prevalent crimes we inherited as well as aided in the entrenchment of our democratic values,” he said.

“This is also evidenced by the successes we recorded in relation to emplacing and coordinating security during the 2019 General Elections and other off-season elections that were conducted in the year.

“It is also corroborated by the fact that our capacity to prevent crimes, disrupt highly organised and deadly criminal networks and apprehend high-profile felons has been strengthened, thereby engendering unprecedented volume of arrests and the phenomenal reduction in the rate of crime,” Adamu said.

On the plans of the security for the citizenry during the yuletide season, the force said more patrol vehicles, electronic surveillance and civil disorder management vehicles have been acquired.

Adamu said the force had completed the Nigeria Police National Command and Control Centre (NPF-C4i) – the first phase of the Nigeria Police Crime and Incident Data Base (NPC & IDB) Centre projects. This he said was to enhance the operational capacity of the police force.

The IGP said 2020 would witness an improvement in the capacity and efficiency of the police through investments in intelligence and crime prevention and control.