From Scholastica Onyeka, Makurdi
The Benue State Police Command said it has arrested two dare-devil suspected criminal syndicate who have been terrorising motorists and commuters plying the Aliade-Otukpo-Enugu road in Benue.
Speaking to newsmen in Makurdi, the Police Public Relations Officer, Catherine Anene, said the suspects, Yahaya Musa and Yahaya Audu, who are in their 20s, were arrested at Otukpo-Ogbadibo road, with a pistol that can fire an AK 47 rifle, including ammunition.
She said they were arrested in the wee hours of yesterday morning after they claimed to be coming from Umuahia, Abia State. She said operatives of the Safer Highway, who intercepted them, suspected their movement following incidents of passengers being kidnapped and their belongings dispossessed.
Anene stated that their arrest came after the commissioner of Police, Wale Abass, ordered the deployment of more police operatives on the road for more visibility policing following reports of kidnappings and armed robbery cases.
The police spokesperson expressed confidence that the arrest of the two suspects will help unravel others. She called on the public and members of the community to provide the police useful information that would help the security agencies to nip crime in the bud.
In the last two months, an increase in criminal activities along the Aliade – Otukpo – Ogbadibo- Enugu road has led to the kidnap of lecturers, politicians, passengers and, also, the death of a volunteer guard, whose lifeless body was recovered in pursuit of some kidnap syndicate. Items recovered from the hoodlums include a locally made pistol, ammunition and a motorcycle.