According to the police, the arrests came after a violent rally in Suleja, where some participants apparently carried dangerous weapons, attacked, and robbed members of the public.
The police have detained 139 suspects and charged 64 of them following a crackdown on illegal gatherings, violent protests, thuggery, and other offences in Suleja and Minna, Niger State.
According to the police, the arrests came after a violent rally in Suleja, where some participants allegedly brandished dangerous weapons, assaulted, and robbed members of the public.
Following the incidents, Abiodun said the Commissioner of Police, Adamu Elleman, deployed the command’s Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU), led by Hassan Gimba, to Suleja on 4 August.
The police said the team conducted sting operations at identified criminal hideouts in Madalla, Kwata, Bakin-Ruwa, Dikko, Kaduna Road, Sabon-Wuse, Gwazunu, and Chaza.
Altogether 139 suspects were detained during the operations.
The command said the investigation led to the identification of 64 suspects with criminal activities.
It said the suspects were found in possession of suspected cannabis, dangerous weapons, scissors, knives, cutlasses and four live cartridges.
The 64 suspects were subsequently arraigned before the Chief Magistrate Court in Suleja on charges including criminal conspiracy, armed robbery, aiding and abetting, harbouring suspected criminals, giving information to miscreants, causing disappearance of evidence, mischief and possession of dangerous weapons.
The suspects were remanded in a correctional centre, according to the police.
The command also reported the arrest of eight suspected thugs during separate operations in Minna.
According to the police, surveillance operatives attached to Tudun-Wada Division conducted a coordinated raid at suspected criminal hideouts in the Talakawa area of Tunga at about 4:30 a.m. on 11 August.
Three suspects — Ashiru Sirajo, 19; Aminu Mahmud, 17, and Dadi Suleiman, 14 — were arrested.
The police said a search of their residence led to the recovery of a long, flexible cutlass, two clubs, and a shovel.
The operation was extended to Sauka-Kahuta, where another suspect, Jibrin Muhammad, 18, was arrested.
The police said two sharp daggers, an ice bunker, six lighters and suspected cannabis were recovered from him.
Similarly, operatives of Maitumbi Division, in collaboration with local vigilantes, raided criminal hideouts in the area on 9 August.
Four suspects — Buhari Aliyu, 25; Shaabal Muhammed, 20; Mubarak Ahmad, 24, and Saifullah Muhammad, 21 — were arrested at Challenge Junction, Maitumbi.
They were allegedly found in possession of illicit substances and shisha pots.
The command said the investigation into the cases was ongoing and that the suspects would be prosecuted upon its completion.
The police also said they arrested two men accused of impersonating military personnel and assaulting a laundry shop attendant in Suleja.
The incident reportedly occurred at about 6:30 p.m. on 8 August at Angwan-Gwari, Suleja.
The suspects, identified as Abraham Ashiwel and Michael Okonkwo, both residents of the Bakassi area, Suleja, allegedly stormed a laundry shop dressed in military attire and assaulted an attendant over an allegedly missing mobile phone.
Following a report, operatives of the ‘B’ Division, Suleja, commenced an investigation and arrested the two suspects.
The police said the suspects confessed during interrogation that they had been impersonating military personnel in the community after they were expelled from the Nigerian Military School, Zaria, in 2016 and 2019, respectively.
Items recovered from them included a pair of military camouflage uniforms, one pair of camouflage trousers, two combat T-shirts, two pairs of desert boots, two identity cards and two jackknives.
The suspects remain in custody and are expected to be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigation.
The command also reported the arrest of a 31-year-old man, Ahmed Sani, over allegations of receiving stolen property.
The police said three students of the Federal University of Technology, Bosso, who were sitting for examinations on 6 August, left three mobile phones on a motorcycle and later discovered that the phones were missing.
The victims reported the matter to the Bosso Division, after which the police commenced an investigation.
