From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
Men of Kaduna State Vigilance Service on Wednesday paraded 11-man drugs and phone snatching syndicate who were arrested in Barnawa, Kaduna South local government area of Kaduna State on Tuesday evening.
The eleven of the syndicate, who are between the ages of 18 and 25 were handed over to the Kaduna State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for further investigation and prosecution.
Parading the suspects before newsmen in Kaduna, Special Adviser (internal security) to Governor Nasir El-Rufai and Commander, Kaduna State Vigilance Service, Brigadier General Umar Ibrahim (rtd) noted that, the state has been hot for assorted crimes through collaborative efforts with sister agencies.
According to the retired but not tired war veteran, “last night around 10:30 pm, our men were on patrol somewhere in Barnawa, Kaduna South LGA and they came across these boys causing problems in that part of the city.
“They were smoking Indian hemp and dealing in it. They are also members of a gang of phone snatchers.
“This is what we have been able to do since the last Friday when we seized 15 bags of Indian hemp in the Ikara local government area of the state.
“Intelligence tip-off from the public has been helping us to make this arrest and of course, this is not the first or second time we would be making such an arrest but because of the number, we felt we should let the public know that our efforts are yielding results.
“We recovered Indian hemp, other assorted drugs and stolen phones from them. The oldest among them is 25 and the youngest among them is 18. Unfortunately, these are the people we are looking up to as leaders of tomorrow”, he decried.
Director, Internal Security and Special Services, Kaduna State Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Garba Aliyu lamented that “it is a worrisome development. It is sad when you see teeming youths who are supposed to be in school or engage in sustainable viable alternatives engaging in criminal activities.
“Kaduna is not going to be a haven for criminals in Kaduna state. So, our youths should stay out of trouble, stay off drugs and be of good behaviour to avoid regret”.