THE Plateau State Police Command has acknowledged “the new trend of crime in Plateau State where criminals go into unsuspecting homes to kidnap” and promised to bring the perpetrators to book soon.

A press release made available on Thursday and signed by Tyopev Matthias Terna, the command’s  public relations officer, said that everything is being done to catch the criminals.

“It has been established that the kidnappers are not far from the communities and already we have gotten the profile of  some of them through our intelligence network. Sooner than later, they will meet their waterloo,” the police’s statement read.

“The Commissioner of Police Plateau State Command wish to plead with the families of those affected to share their information with the police no matter the threat from the kidnappers with the assurance that such information will be treated with utmost confidentiality.”

The police also announced that one Daniel Useini, a “notorious criminal… who has been on the wanted list of the Police for Criminal Conspiracy and Armed Robbery cases” was arrested on Tuesday, as evidence of police’s determination to tackle crime in the state.

Useini was found with a locally made revolver with 10 rounds of live ammunition and 15 rounds of rubber ammunition, police said.

“Investigation in this case is ongoing and members of the public shall be briefed at the appropriate time,” police said. “The Command is also calling on members of the public to be security conscious and report any suspicious movement around them to the Police. Members of the public are advised to volunteer information to the police to serve them better.”

A journalist, Ahmad Salkida, on Wednesday, narrated specific cases of kidnapping that recently took place in the state. He said he has documented 40 of such crimes between January and March, and called out the armed forces and police for doing little to stop the trend.