The Rivers State Police Command has said it arrested 173 suspected robbers and 72 suspected kidnappers between April 1, 2012 and August 31, 2012; while a total of 26 suspected robbers and 10 suspected kidnappers were also killed within the same period.
No fewer than 13 officers and men of the Command were killed by hoodlums, while several others were injured between April and August, 2012.
The State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abdukadir Indabawa, who disclosed this while briefing journalists in Port Harcourt yesterday, said the command, arrested 78 suspected cultists during the period.
Indabawa said the death of the policemen would not daunt their spirit, but would motivate those alive to fight and eradicate criminality and violent crimes from the society.
He said men and officers of the command raided no fewer than 22 criminal hide-outs in the state where they arrested 16 suspects and rescued no fewer than 17 kidnap victims, adding that at least six persons suspected to be involved in vandalisation of petroleum products’ pipelines were also arrested within the period.
The police commissioner stated that 52 different types of fire-arms as well as a total of 600 rounds of ammunition and 42 vehicles were recovered within the period, noting that officers and men of the Command have overtime exhibited high sense of professionalism in the discharge of their duties in line with internationally accepted best practises.