Police arrest 12 suspected cultists in Benue
The Police in Benue State at the weekend arrested 12 suspected cultists in Gboko town following intensive crackdown operations against criminality across the 23 Local Government Area of the state State Commissioner of Police, Ifeanyi Nwadiogbu, who disclosed this while briefing journalists in Makurdi, said the feat was part of a series of operations that […]
The Police in Benue State at the weekend arrested 12 suspected cultists in Gboko town following intensive crackdown operations against criminality across the 23 Local Government Area of the state
State Commissioner of Police, Ifeanyi Nwadiogbu, who disclosed this while briefing journalists in Makurdi, said the feat was part of a series of operations that also led to the arrest of suspected armed robbers, bandits, herders and murder suspects across the state.
He said that the command also arrested three suspects over the killing of a Cross River indigene in Konshisha LGA, explaining that the killing was a reprisal attack linked to the earlier murder of a pastor from Konshisha in Yala LGA of Cross River State.
The police commissioner said the swift intervention of police authorities in Benue and Cross River states prevented the incident from degenerating into an inter-state communal crisis.
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He added that security agencies, in collaboration with the two state governments and local authorities, were sustaining engagements in the affected communities to ensure lasting peace.
Nwadiogbu said the command also recorded breakthroughs in its crackdown on armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes across the state.
He disclosed that seven suspected bandits and armed robbers were neutralised during separate gun battles in Makurdi, Katsina-Ala and Logo LGA, while firearms, ammunition, motorcycles, charms and other exhibits were recovered.
The commissioner added that the operatives also arrested 15 suspected criminals during a raid on a hideout in Katsina-Ala and apprehended a suspected armed robber in Guma after recovering a stolen motorcycle.
In a separate operation, he said five herders were arrested in Guma for allegedly grazing cattle on farmlands, while four locally fabricated pistols concealed inside a container were intercepted in a commercial bus in Makurdi after the suspect transporting them fled.
The commissioner further disclosed that seven Pakistani nationals found in a hotel in Otukpo had been profiled after informing the police they were in the area to conduct a feasibility study for an electronics business.
He said investigations into all the cases were ongoing and assured residents that the command would sustain aggressive operations against criminal elements across Benue State.
Nwadiogbu urged members of the public to continue providing credible information to security agencies, stressing that community support remained vital to improving security across the state.