The Police on Thursday said they had arrested 93 suspected kidnappers in different parts of the North Central, North East and North West zones of the country.
Force spokesman Frank Mba, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, said in a statement in Abuja that the suspects were arrested by operatives attached to `Operation Puff Adder’.
According to Mba, one rocket launcher, 35 AK47 rifles, 10 locally-made AK47 rifles, and 500 live ammunitions, and eight locally-made revolvers were recovered from them.
He added that 10 pairs of military camouflage uniform, two operational vehicles, and other incriminating items were recovered from the suspects.
He said that the operation leading to the arrest of the suspects was carried out by a joint team of police operatives attached to Operation Puff Adder, North-Central sector.
“The team consists of detectives from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Force Intelligence Unit, Intelligence Response Team (IRT) and the Special Tactical Squad (STS).
“Other operatives in the Joint Mission include personnel from the Police Mobile Force (PMF) the Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU), Special Protection Unit (SPU) and the Special Forces,” he said.
He said that police investigators had launched a comprehensive investigation of all the suspects.
According to the spokesman, the investigations, among other things, are aimed at tracking, uncovering, and disrupting the sources of arms supply to the criminal groups.
He said that it was also to identify their collaborators and bring all involved in the heinous crimes to justice.
Mba said that the achievements recorded by the police within the past few days were in line with the objectives and core mandates of Operation Puff Adder.
“The achievements are also indicative of the fact that the security agents are now winning the war against the criminal elements,” he said.
He reiterated the commitment of the acting Inspector-General of Police (I-G) to restoring sanity on the country’s highways and cities.
He expressed gratitude to the public for providing credible intelligence that had helped the police to achieve the successes recorded so far.
