The Rivers State Police Command paraded before newsmen at Police Headquarters on Moscow Road in Port-Harcourt last Thursday, twenty crime suspects, amongst whom were suspected armed robbers, cultists, cattle rustlers and kidnappers.
The State Commissioner of Police, CP Usman Belel, who addressed newsmen before the suspects were paraded, said that the State Police Command was committed to fighting crime in Rivers State.
He said: “As a Command, we have restrategized and repositioned our personnel for optimum productivity. Rivers State shall no longer be conducive for criminals, hence we remain irrevocably committed to sustaining the onslaught against all criminal elements in the state”.
CP Belel said that out of those arrested were eight suspected cultists, three suspected kidnappers, four suspected armed robbers and five suspected cattle rustlers who he said stole ten cows in Abia State and brought them to Eagle Island in Port-Harcourt where they were arrested.
The Police Commissioner said that an arms dealer was arrested in Rumuji in Emohua Local Government Area of the state who confessed to have supplied arms and ammunition to armed robbers that operate along East-West Road.
He said the Police recovered twenty-one Ak 47 rifles, fourteen locally-made pistols, three Pump-Action guns, five magazines, fifty-five live ammunition, eighty-two cartridges, ten live cows and three vehicles.
He said that Policemen under the command rescued kidnap victims and prevented three armed-robbery operations.
He said the Rivers State Police Command would prosecute the suspects after investigation.
Among those paraded as member of an armed-robbery syndicate was a female Lance Corporal who said she is attached to 91 Artillery Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Niger State.
CP Belel thanked the press for their “continued support and partnership” in the fight against crime in Rivers State and appealed to the people of the state to continue to have trust that the Police will perform their duties.
