From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
Edo State Police Command,q yesterday, paraded 34 suspects for various crimes in the state.
Out of the numbers, 20 were arrested for armed robbery, four for kidnapping, seven for cultism while three were escaped inmates.
Addressing newsmen at the command headquarters in Benin City, Edo State Commissioner of Police, Johnson Kokumo warned those planning to disturb the existing peace in the state to steer clear or face the dire consequences of their actions.
He added that the command has perfected plans to wage war against criminal elements in the state as Christmas season approaches.
Kokumo, however, dispelled the rumor making the rounds that more than 20 persons were kidnapped along the Benin-Ekpoma-Auchi road on Thursday, December 3, noting that five persons were abducted while a personnel of the vigilance group lost his life in an encounter with the criminal elements.
One of the suspects, Pius Ogbeide, said he was arrested alongside his gang for robbing a Point Of Sale (POS), along Ekenwan road in Oredo Local Government Area of the State.
Ogbeide said after they robbed the POS, officers of the police force arrested them at a hotel.
Cross session of criminal suspects paraded by the Commissioner of Police at the Edo State Police Command.
