The Cross River State Police Command has paraded 72 suspects arrested for various offences committed in the state between July and October 2017.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hafiz Inuwa, said his men also recovered 116 guns including two General Purpose Machine guns and 537 lives cartridges as well as money from the suspected criminals.
He said eight people were arrested for murder and 28 others for armed robbery while four were involved in kidnapping as well as 32 others involved in sundry crime.
Inuwa said that the mass arrest followed the command’s determination to surmount the daunting security challenges across the state.
He said, “On September 9, 2017, following a distress call that a robbery incident was going on along Effanga-Effanga Street in Calabar, our men quickly swung into action and two suspects, one Edet Bassey and Neji Parries were arrested.
“We also arrested three suspects for attempted kidnapping on September 26. During the arrest, one Happiness Bassey was rescued from her captives and set free by the police.
“On September 25, one Effiong Edet was arrested for breaking into the house of a corps member at Bakassi local government area. The suspect also raped the corps member and collected the sum of N15,000 and a mobile phone from her.”
One of the suspects, Edet, in an interview with The PUNCH, admitted committing the crime, saying that he was led by the devil.
“I don’t know what came over me the day I raped the corps member. I don’t know why I allowed myself to be used by the devil,” he said.
The Commissioner also said that seven armed robbery suspects were also arrested on the 3rd of October 2017 shortly after they had robbed one Timothy Okoli of the sum of N100, 000.
He added that the quick response of the police led to the arrest of the suspects.
The commissioner, who decried youth involvement in crime and other forms of illegalities in the state, advised parents to always check the peer-groups and activities of their wards.
“In all, we have arrested 72 suspects for various offences committed across the state between the period under review. We recovered 80 locally made pistols, seven double barrel long guns, seven locally made guns, three pump action guns, four locally made barrette pistols, one AK47 gun and others.
“Also, we recovered 537 live cartridges, two pairs of Army camouflage, two jack knives, one Toyota carina car, five android phones and the total sum of N800, 000,” he said.
The CP further said that the suspects will soon be charged to court as soon as investigations were completed.
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