The police command in Bauchi says it arrested nine armed robbery suspects allegedly terrorising residents.

The spokesperson for the command, SP Ahmed Wakil, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.

He said the operation was achieved through the bravery of the joint efforts of Operation Restore Peace (ORP) and the command’s Rapid Response Squad (RRS).

“Acting on credible intelligence regarding the activities of a robbery syndicate in the area, the operatives swiftly took action. The syndicate had been under the command’s watchlist due to their involvement in several armed robberies,” the statement explained.

It added, “On August 13, 2023, at about 15:03 hours, ORP apprehended three suspected armed robbers who had been causing havoc in the Bauchi metropolis.”

The police explained that the most recent criminal activities occurred on July 10 and 21 at Bauchi’s GRA, Bayan Gari and Sabon Layi areas.

“Following relentless intelligence gathering, the suspects have been successfully arrested from different operations by the operatives of the command,” said the police.

The statement said the command recovered items from the suspects, including three laptops, laptop charger, cutlasses, Keke NAPEP, phones, plasma TVs, mattresses, refrigerator and carpets. Other recovered items were clothes, caps, and an iPhone 13 Pro, valued at N750,000. The iPhone was traced to a robbery on August 2 in Nasarawa.

The police said the suspects confessed to being responsible for nighttime burglaries and robberies in Bauchi.

“The investigation is ongoing, and efforts are being intensified to apprehend the remaining accomplices who are still at large,” said the statement.

Meanwhile, police commissioner Auwal Muhammad has ordered an investigation to recover additional stolen property and apprehend the remaining culprits.

“The commissioner of police further expresses gratitude to the general public for providing credible intelligence that has helped the Police in achieving the successes recorded so far,” the statement said.

(NAN)