Some senior police officers in the Edo State Police Command have been arrested over the escape of some suspected kidnappers and armed robbers from the custody of the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, at the Command’s Headquarters in the wee hours of Sunday.

The dramatic escape of the suspects, who are prime suspects in the various crimes for which they were arrested, Nigerian Tribune gathered, was considered as an embarrassment to the command, which in recent times, has been battling with the menace of the men of the underworld.

Subsequently, all the policemen on duty within the SCID and others on security duty the night the suspects escaped, have been arrested and detained on the order of the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Johnson Babatunde Kokumo.

Though the top echelon of the command would not volunteer any information about the incident, a competent source within the command, however, disclosed that majority of the escapee-suspects were arrested in connection with kidnapping and armed robbery in the last two months and a few others taken into custody after the raids on criminal hideouts during the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

While details of the midnight cell break was sketchy, the source hinted on conspiracy theory, hence the mass arrest of the policemen suspected be involved in the alleged complicity.

The source added that the commissioner of police was enraged by the embarrassing situation and had vowed that all the arrested officers and men on duty as at the time of the cell break and escape of the suspects would be made to face the command’s disciplinary board, Orderly Room.

It would be recalled that the escape of 1,993 prisoners from the two correctional centres in the state capital and the inter cult clashes that spanned over three weeks, had stretched the security maintenance capacity of the command, with the apathy of policemen to policing after the October 2020 #EndSARS protests, which led to the burning of seven police stations in the city, worsening the situation.

The inner source added that the conspiracy theory became germane given the fact that after the #EndSARS protests, “movement in and out of the road leading to the state command headquarters, as well as restrictions between the Command Headquarters and the SCID, have been watertight such that even senior officers do not have free access. So how did they escape?”

The worsening security situation in Benin City has led the state Police Command, to recently constitute, a Joint Security Taskforce made up of soldiers, men of the Directorate of the State Services (DSS), the police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) to tackle the recent rising crime waves at the Upper Sakponba, Murtala Mohammed (MM) Way on Third East Circular Road, Textile Mill road, Ugbowo and other areas considered as flashpoints within the state capital.

Not less than 16 persons have been killed in the last two weeks following the renewed rival cults clashes in parts of Benin, just as many people have fallen victims of robbery activities.

Major victims of the spate of robbery attacks have been traders and operators of Point of Service (POS) outlets as well as unsuspecting residents whose houses have become targets at will by the hoodlums.

On Saturday night for instance, all the entry and exit points linking Kings Square otherwise known as Ring Road, were barricaded by suspected robbers at early as 7:45pm where they dispossessed motorists and passersby of their valuables including money.

On December 19, 2020, some gunmen kidnapped the State Head of Service, Mr. Anthony Okungbowa, along Oza Road, in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of the state. A source close to his family said the state government paid about N50 million to secure his release.

This was just as gunmen laid siege to the Benin-Auchi-Lokoja Expressway, abducting passengers and other commuters on the road.

When contacted, the State Commissioner of Police, Kokumo, refused to answer calls while the State Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Chidi Nwabuzor, did not also pick calls to his cell phone.

But, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) of the Command, Mr. Ajala Ayoola when contacted denied that the incident happened on Sunday and would not volunteer information on the actual date of the cell break and suspects escape.

Ayoola asked the reporter to wait for an official statement from the State Police Command for details of the incident.

“Yes, it’s not true that it happened last night (Saturday) wait for a statement from the PPRO,” the Deputy Commissioner of Police advised. (Nigerian Tribune)

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