The Edo Police Command on Wednesday said it had arrested no fewer than 367 suspects in connection with 10 criminal offences in January.
The State Commissioner of Police, Mr Lawal Jimeta, disclosed this in Benin, in an interview with ourcorrespondent while highlighting the command’s achievements.
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The Edo Commissioner disclosed that the offences for which the suspects were arrested include armed robbery, murder, kidnapping, cultism and attempted murder.
Other criminal offences he said were stealing, fraud, rape, defilement and unlawful possession of firearms.
Jimeta said that the arrests were made from 198 reported cases, adding that 152 of the cases involving 272 suspects have been charged to court, with 48 still under investigation.
Jimeta, while giving a breakdown of the figure, said that those apprehended include 74 suspected for alleged armed robbery in 49 reported cases, with 35 of the cases involving 54 suspects charged to courts and 14 cases still under investigation.
“For murder the command arrested 19 suspects in 14 reported cases with 13 of the cases already charged to court with 17 suspects and one case under investigation.
“In kidnapping, attempted murder and cultism, the command arrested 34, six and 140 suspects from 17, four and 51 reported cases respectively.
“We have also charged 13, three and 35 cases involving 32, three and 100 suspects to court respectively with four, one and 16 cases respectively still under investigation”, he said.
The CP further explained that 26 suspects were arrested by the command in 18 reported cases of stealing within the period under review, adding that 12 cases involving 22 of the suspects have been charged to court and six cases under investigation.
“In the case of fraud, rape, defilement and unlawful possession of firearms, the command arrested 19, seven, 18 and eight suspects respectively, in 14, seven, 18 and six reported cases.
“We have charged 13, seven, 18 and six suspects in the respective cases to court as well as 10, seven, 18 and six of the respective cases pending.
“We however have four fraud cases still undergoing investigation as well as two cases of unlawful possession of firearms,” Jimeta said.
The CP added that 27 locally made single barrel cut to size, 9 locally made double barrel cut to size, 11 locally made single barrel, 11 locally made pistol, six pump action, one AK-47 and 239 live cartridges were recovered within the period under review.
Jimeta spoke tough on curbing crime and criminality in the state ahead of the forth coming governorship election and beyond.
He advised residents of the state to engage in meaningful and legitimate ventures as the command would ensure that no criminal was spared in the state.
The CP said his tenure in the state as the CP would continue to prepare personnel of the command for modern best practices in tackling crimes and criminality in the society through training and retraining.
He, however, gave the assurance that the command would witness positive dimension to policing as new initiatives like lecture series and sporting engagements are introduced in the command.
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