The Nasarawa State Police Command has arrested 58 suspects over alleged armed robbery, kidnapping and cultism in the state.
Mr. Bola Longe, the state’s Commissioner of Police (CP) said the suspects were arrested in the last two weeks from various locations across the state.
Longe said 16 of the suspects were arrested for armed robbery, one for kidnapping, 32 for cult activities, among others.
He explained that some of the cultists were arrested from a hideout around the Karu, Masaka and Mararaba axis of the state during one of their events marking a special day, July 7, 2019.
Longe said the command arrested a kidnap kingpin, whose gang had been terrorising Udege village and environs in Nasarawa Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
He listed the items recovered from the suspects within the period to include six firearms and ammunition.
Also recovered were bows and arrows, machetes, motorcycle number plates, as well as one army camouflage and cap.
The CP attributed the achievements to the cooperation of members of the public through intelligence and input from the operation Puff Adder in the state.
He maintained that the command would not relent in its efforts to flush out criminal elements from the state.
According to him, the command has identified flash points for cultists in major areas in the state, especially the Karu/Mararaba axis, and is committed to tackling the menace.
“The command is warning all cultists and others with criminal tendencies to desist as the police will not only sustain the onslaught against them, but will deploy all within its arsenal to decapitate their operations,” Longe stated.
He therefore, called on parents and guardians to closely monitor activities of their children in schools as the largest cult membership was drawn from academic institutions.
