The police in Akwa Ibom have arrested 562 suspects for various offences in the last quarter of 2023.

The state’s Commissioner of Police, Olatoye Durosinmi, stated this at a news conference on Saturday in Uyo.

He said the operatives of the command arrested the suspects for various crimes ranging from murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, rape, and stealing.

“During the last quarter of the year, a total of 562 suspects were arrested for various offences ranging from murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, rape, and stealing,” he said.

According to Mr Durosinmi, several suspects have been charged in court, and some were granted bail while others are still under investigation.

He listed some of the offences to include pipeline vandalism and economic sabotage by one Godwin Ita Effiong, who conspired with four others to vandalise a pipeline belonging to Frontier Oil and stole 18 jerry cans of 25 litres of crude oil on November 18.

The CP added that during the period under review, Francis Eze and Johnson Amadu, allegedly armed with a locally made gun, robbed a POS operator, Glory Akpan, and carted away with her POS machine, Android phone, and N300,000.

Also, operatives of the command arrested Samuel Jackson and Favour Friday on November 21 for allegedly abducting a three-year-old child, the daughter of one Effiong Akpan.

He said preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects sold the child to a woman in Abia through a third party, adding that efforts are being intensified to arrest other suspects and rescue the child.

“For the yuletide, I deployed 1,758 officers and men to effectively provide security during Christmas, and I am happy that we had a peaceful celebration.

“I must say that our security strategies and our collaboration with sister security agencies have led to a more peaceful Akwa Ibom,” the CP said.

The CP expressed optimism that maritime crimes would be reduced to the bare minimum in the state with the Akwa Ibom government’s procurement of 14 gunboats for the Nigerian Navy.

(NAN)