The Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Usman Baba-Alkali said the Nigeria Police rescued 865 kidnap victims and arrested 383 suspects between January and November.

Mr Baba-Alkali said this on Thursday in Abuja during a meeting with strategic police managers, consisting of officers from the rank of Commissioner of Police (CP) and above.

He said a total of 923 armed robbery suspects, 335 murder suspects and 473 suspected cultists were also apprehended within the period under review.

Mr Baba-Alkali said the approval for the establishment of Nigeria Police National Cybercrime Centre had enhanced cybercrime investigation capacity of the police, leading to the arrest of 478 cybercrime suspects.

He said the centre established with the support of the CBN,  had witnessed the deployment of highly trained police cyber crime operatives.

The police boss said the INTERPOL had continued to deploy tools to monitor and apprehend transnational criminal fugitives.

He said a total of 1,125 assorted firearms and 10,653 assorted calibre of ammunition were recovered during internal security operations in the period under review.

Mr Baba-Alkali said his men also apprehended 696 terror elements, bandits and secessionists with 284 pipeline vandals across the country.

The police boss said the meeting was convened to evaluate the performance of the force in the outgoing year and dissect operational challenges in relation to policing mandates.

He said it was also to review and perfect election security governance plans ahead of the 2023 general elections and collectively set policing goals for 2023.

According to him, the outgoing year presented sets of security challenges which at some point evolved to threaten the security order and national cohesion of the country.

“Some of these threats relate to flashes of violent campaigns by terrorists and bandits in the northern geopolitical zones and violent secessionist activities in the South-East and adjoining states by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB),

“Others are the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and other pockets of factions of IPOB all of which were bent on engaging non-constitutional means to threaten the legitimacy of government at all levels.

“Other highly organised crimes that the Force had to grapple with in the outgoing year include kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism, illegal firearms trafficking and proliferation, cybercrime, gender-based violence and other transnational crimes,” he said.

The police boss said the force was able to overcome the threats with the review of its operational strategies, acquisition of new, specialised operational assets, enhanced intelligence capacity and more purposeful police-community relations framework.

The I-G attributed the successes recorded to the enhanced trust and stronger synergy among the force, military, the intelligence community and other security agencies as well as the sacrifice, courage, loyalty and dedication of personnel of the Nigeria Police.

“We confronted the threats frontally, gallantly took the battle to the doorsteps of the criminal elements and successfully stabilised the internal security order as the year winds down.

“These major breakthroughs would not have been achieved without the loyalty and leadership skills of all of you here seated and for this, I specially salute your courage and commend you all for supporting my leadership.

“I trust that you shall continue to march shoulder to shoulder with my leadership towards building on the gains we have recorded so far in our onslaught against criminal elements.

“On our part, I assure you that we shall continue to offer a purposeful and all-inclusive leadership that will address your welfare, career, and operational concerns,” he said. 

(NAN)