Police arrests 307 in raid of FCT’s black spot

*Pastor arrested in Abuja over child trafficking

By OUR REPORTER

According to the police, preliminary investigation revealed that the children whose ages are between 5 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.

Tactical teams of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command raided a marked black spot, Gidan Dambe in Dei-Dei-Zuba axis and arrested 307 suspects.

This followed the newly launched Operation Velvet of the command.

In a statement by its the FCT Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Josephine Adeh, the Command said one English pistol with 15 rounds of 9mm ammunition was recovered from one Ibrahim Tukur, who claimed to be a DSS personnel.

A gun, phones and other items were recovered by the police from the suspects, even as 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 February 10, 2024.

The operation comprises all the Tactical teams of the Command to curb all forms of vehicular criminality and other crimes in the nation’s capital.

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 has 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.

The suspected armed robbers were paraded in Abuja on February 9, 2024. Credit: FCT Police Command.

The FCT PPRO, DSP 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.

According to the police, preliminary investigation revealed that the children whose ages are between 5 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 nation’s capital, the FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, vowed that his administration would not leave any stone unturned in the quest to make the seat of government 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,” he said.

Wike’s administration, The DEFENDER recalls as Governor of Rivers State, witnessed beheading of a Miger state-birn police officer, ASP Mohammed Alhlkali, and many more police officers and he personally bmocked investigation of the killings by then Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Idris using the court.

He has been wished well now as he blows hot to make see “fire for fire” bandits and other criminal elements who have in recent months held sway in some parts of the FCT, killing and kidnapping others under the watch of administration as minister of the FCT.