Men of the Nigeria Police Force have arrested no fewer than 36 terrorists, 78 murder suspects, 110 armed robbery suspects, 50 kidnappers and 150 suspected cultists between January 1 and March 3, 2022.The Inspector-General of Police, Alkali Baba, disclosed this on Wednesday during the Conference of Strategic Police Managers from across the country in Abuja.
He said, “Between January 2022 till date, collated crime statistics revealed that 36 terror elements, 78 murder suspects, 110 armed robbery suspects, 50 kidnappers and 150 cultists were arrested during various police operations across the country.
“Aside from these, 204 kidnap victims were successfully rescued, 155 firearms of various descriptions and 1,561live ammunition were also recovered.”
The IG decried the allegations of extortion against his men during patrols. He said, “I have continually been inundated by complaints of excesses in the conduct of our men on patrols or stop and search duties and I have personally had the cause to drive round in the course of which I witnessed some of these illegalities, particularly in relation to roadblocks.
“I want to re-emphasise that while the stop and search strategy could occasionally be an invaluable anti-crime tactic, such should not be done without requisite approval and must not be a permanent strategy.
“It must equally be conducted with extant police protocols which emphasise civility to members of the public and must be laced with the highest level of professional decorum. Such must not also be turned into an avenue for extortion.”
He asked command leaders to ensure that personnel were well behaved, warning that they would be held liable for any violation.