Tactical teams of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command have through the newly launched operation velvet, raided a marked black spot, Gidan Dambe in Dei-Dei-Zuba axis and arrested 307 suspects.
The Command in statement on Monday by its spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, said one English Pistol with 15 rounds of 9mm ammunition was recovered from one Ibrahim Tukur who claimed to be a DSS personnel.
Adeh added that other exhibits such as motorcycles, wraps of marijuana, illicit substances and valuables reasonably suspected to have been stolen from innocent residents were equally recovered.
While suspects are still undergoing screening, the FCT Commissioner of Police, CP Benneth Igweh, who personally led the operation, informed the members of the public of operation velvet, which was launched on 10/02/2024, comprising all the Tactical teams of the Command to curb all forms of vehicular criminality and other crimes in the Territory.
The Commissioner of Police further cautioned officers against extortion of residents, asking them to adopt professionalism in the discharge of their lawful duties, as security of the populace remains his utmost priority.
With the growing insecurity in the Federal Capital Territory, the police have been cracking down on criminals hideouts within the city, neutralising and arresting many in the process.
Last week, operatives of the FCT Police Command arrested six suspected armed robbers in Utako Village.
The suspects were apprehended on Wednesday in an uncompleted hospital building which is a marked black spot during a coordinated raid operation.
Police Public Relations Officer of the FCT Command, Josephine Adeh, disclosed this in a statement on Friday, saying a locally made pistol, two live cartridges, and wraps of substances suspected to be marijuana were recovered from the suspects.
She identified the suspects as Basara Hassan, Daniel Charles, Adamu M Oshiaka, Chancy Asidi, and Saliu Al Hassan, all from neighbouring states bordering the nation’s capital.
In another operation on Friday, operatives attached to the Rapid Response Squad 74 (RRS 74), intercepted one Muhammad Isah ‘m’ of Kafanchan, Kaduna in a Toyota Hiace bus with Reg No APP 489 XE, conveying twelve; four (4) male and eight (8) female; underage children to a destination later discovered to be in Ogun State.
Police said that preliminary investigation revealed that the children whose ages are between 5 years and 16 years, all from Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, were being trafficked to Ogun state by one Pastor Simon Kado ‘m’ and Jesse Simon Kado ‘m’, who are now presently in police custody.
‘They’ll See Fire For Fire
Recently commenting on the insecurity in the FCT, the Minister, Nyesom Wike vowed that his administration won’t leave any stone unturned in the quest to make the nation’s seat of power secure.
Wike told a gathering at the flag off of the construction of Paikon-Kore Road in the Gwagwalada area of the FCT on February 1, that his administration is on course to flush out criminals.
“I have assured you before that we are going to take this fight against security headlong. Today, you can see that we are not letting them go. I told you all these criminals will run away,” he said.
“We will make sure they don’t sleep again. If they say we will not sleep, they too will not sleep. A child that says the mother will not sleep, will he sleep? So, we are taking the war to them head on. Let them wait for us, they will see fire for fire,” Wike, who is the immediate past Rivers State Governor, added.
Bandits and other criminal elements have in recent months held sway in some parts of the FCT, killing and kidnapping others.