Detectives in Borno State Police Command serving in ‘Operation Puff Adder’ have arrested five soldiers and 83 other suspects over alleged armed robbery and other offences.
Commissioner of Police, Mr Mohammed Aliyu, made the disclosure in Maiduguri on Thursday while briefing newsmen.
Aliyu said that the soldiers were arrested at different times for various acts of armed robbery in Maiduguri between May 3 and Thursday.
He explained that Cpl Hilary Oziama with Force number 09NA/63/3117, was arrested on May 13 after he allegedly conspired with L/Cpl Kolawale Samuel, still at large and robbed one Ibrahim Mohammed of his tricycle worth N600, 000.
Aliyu added that two other soldiers, Mohammed Abubakar with force number 17NA/76/15521 and Ibrahim Musa, 17NA/76/4381, conspired with Mohammed Mustapha and Sani Abdullahi to rob one Sani Musa of his cell phone worth N5,000.
He said that the soldiers and their accomplices were arrested by personnel of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Maiduguri.
Aliyu also said that a soldier, Tgwe Sylvester (15NA/73/0510), conspired with one Nnamani Micheal and robbed a car from its owner at Bayo in Bayo Local Government Area of the state.
He added that two locally-made pistols were recovered from the suspects.
The commissioner said that a Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) official, Raphael Akintola, was arrested with 60 rounds of live ammunition at Maiduguri Motor Park.
He disclosed that 237 live ammunition were also recovered by the police under the Customs Bridge in Maiduguri metropolis.
He said that Modu Ali, Kaka Ali, Wakil Ba’a, Abba Babagana and Tijjani Bukar were arrested in connection with the ammunition recovered under the bridge.
According to Aliyu, the command also burst a kidnap syndicate at Askira Uba after they abducted and extorted N1.6 million from their victim, Sale Hamman.
“The suspects are Ibrahim Usman, Ahmadu Hammsn, Sule Hamman and Hamman Abdulrahaman.
“A drug peddler, Charles Noah, was arrested by the police in Maiduguri in possession of narcotic substances worth N2 million, while a large quantity of drugs were seized and many suspects arrested.
“The police also arrested two lovers, Shettima Bukar and Saude Saleh, over the murder of their new born child in Maiduguri.’’
While reiterating the command’s commitment to achieving crime-free society, the commissioner called on criminals to surrender.
He assured that they would be assisted and rehabilitated to be reintegrated into the society.
