Molly Kilete, Abuja
Police operatives deployed on anti-kidnapping operations along the Abuja/Kaduna express road have reportedly killed nine suspected kidnappers specializing in kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes.
Force public relations officer Frank Mba, who made this known, said the suspects were killed during a shootout with police operatives at a forest in the area, while two others escaped with gunshot injuries.
Mba, in a statement, said that one police operative had sustained gunshot wounds during the operation.
He listed items recovered from the suspects to include six AK-47 rifles, one pump action gun, 1,206 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, seven magazines, 28 cartridges and 158 expended shells.
Mba’s statement made available to Daily Sun reads:
“The unrelenting efforts to root-out criminal elements terrorizing commuters along Abuja – kaduna expressway recorded additional successes on 10th April, 2019, with the recovery of six (6) Ak47 Rifles, one (1) Pump Action Gun, One Thousand, Two Hundred and Six (1,206) rounds of Ak47 Ammunition, Seven (7) Magazines, Twenty-Eight (28) Cartridges and One Hundred and Fifty-Eight (158) expended shells by Police operatives attached to Operation Puff adder deployed to the area.
“The recovery followed a serious exchange of gun fire encounter, between the police operatives and a heavily armed notorious criminal gang at the Akilbu Forest, off Abuja-Kaduna Expressway , which resulted in the death of nine (9) members of the gang while two (2) escaped with gunshot wounds. One of the police operatives however sustained gunshot wound and he is presently receiving treatment in a hospital. Effort is being intensified to arrest the fleeing members of the gang.
“While expressing satisfaction with the successes recorded so far in the fight against kidnapping and other heinous crimes across the Country, the Inspector General Police, Ag. IGP M. A. Adamu NPM mni reiterates his call for support by the public to the Police and other sister agencies, as he gives the assurance that the war against armed bandits will soon be won.”