The Anambra State Police Command has arrested 45 suspected armed robbers, kidnappers and cultists, recovering firearms from their hideouts. The Commissioner of Police, Mr. John Abang, said: “My coming to Anambra State is to flush out criminals who are terrorising the state. I first visited Onitsha with the Area Commandant and we mapped out strategies of how there would be constant raid on the hideouts of criminals. We have started raiding them and chasing them from uncompleted buildings.
“I have warned and declared war against criminals; they should relocate from the state. The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) raided hideouts of the hoodlums in Awka, Onitsha and Ogidi, arrested over 15 suspected armed robbers and recovered some arms during one of their stop-and-search operations.
“The Anti-Cultism Squad (ACS), rounded up 30 suspects in various institutions during their initiation. Some weapons were recovered from them. I have warned those who are cultists to denounce their membership. We have warned parents to wake up to their responsibilities and take care of their children. I have warned my officers to shun corruption and stop extorting money from the public. If anybody is caught, I will try him and show him the way out of the job. IGP Mohammed Adamu’s vision and mission is about professionalism and community policing. I have lectured my officers to imbibe community policing, it is the only way members of the public can have confidence in the police and assist us as vital information to fight criminals out of the state.
“This is the period that our stakeholders, elders, marketwomen, students’ union government to come together and assisted the police on how to work together, assisted by vigilante, to give us more information to work with police to enable us to clamp down on criminal.
“I have warned the vigilantes not to take the law into their hands. Whenever they arrest hoodlums or suspects, they should hand them to the police, which will enable us do further investigation on such cases, with the assistance of other sister agencies. We are ready to work together to fish out hoodlums out of state.”
Abang said that SARS operatives has arrested over 10 suspects for kidnapping and rescued at least four victims from the kidnappers without any ransom. Detectives have so busted the kidnappers’ dens and flushed them out of their different hideouts, recovering arms and ammunition in the process.