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From Leo Nzwanke, Lafia
The Nigeria Police Force says it has arrested two members of an armed robbery gang that sent threatening letters to communities in New Karu, near the state capital.
According to police sources, police in New Karu division, led by SP Aaron Kaura, launched a manhunt for members of the armed robbery gang after communities in the area reported that they were served a letter from a gang threatening to rob the community.
‘Many communities reported to the police that they received a letter from a robbery gang. The gang said it was coming to rob the communities. So, there was apprehension everywhere in the affected communities. But thank God, the police were able to burst the gang and abort their heinous mission,’ the police source told our correspondent.
Confirming the arrest via a telephone, Nasarawa State Police Command spokesman ASP Ramhan Nansel said the police aborted a criminal operation ‘while the gang members were planning the operation.
‘Having given letters to some communities, they were preparing to rob; so they were having a meeting, that was when police rounded them up,’ ASP Nansel said.
Two of the gang members arrested by the police, Onofiok Job and Sunday Akpan (aka ‘small calabar’), have confessed that they have been robbing communities near the FCT.
‘Since the gang had dispatched letters to the communities, police made adequate deployment, both covert and overt, to the area in order to frustrate their effort in making that threat possible. So, on Saturday, at about 10 pm, the covert police deployed to the area saw a group of young men walking aimlessly in the area, so when they were rounded up and stopped, two of them ran and one of them was apprehended. When a search was conducted on the bag he had on him, two locally made pistols and two cartridges were discovered in the bag, so he was arrested.
‘He has confessed to being part of the armed robbery gang that has been carrying out nefarious activities in that area, New Karu and FCT environs. A follow up on the investigation led to the arrest of the second suspect on Sunday. Effort is ongoing to arrest other fleeing suspects,’ the police spokesman said.
Nasarawa has been battling a rise in cases of banditry, kidnapping and armed robbery and the Nasarawa State Police Command, led by Police Commissioner Bola Longe, has made extensive efforts towards ensuring the hunting down of criminals in the state.
The Nasarawa Police Command had notably arrested a 12-member gang that kidnapped 26 officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps in September 2020.
