The Defence Headquarters has said that troops of OPERATION SAFE HAVEN have arrested 10 suspected armed robbers in the Kafanchan area of Kaduna State. Majority of the criminals are youths, with their age ranging between 16 and 25. Also, the troops neutralised bandits and recovered arms, dangerous weapons in a sustained effort to eliminate criminal elements in their area of operation.

The Director of the Defence Media Operations, Major General Benard Onyeuko who made the disclosure in a statement in Abuja, said the arrest was made on June28, 2022, based on credible intelligence. He said the troops conducted clearance operation in conjunction with vigilantes at Kan Duniya Village, Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, Plateau State, and neutralised notorious bandit and kidnapper.

“Similarly, on the same day, troops on fighting patrol sighted 2 x suspected kidnappers around Sara High Ground Mangu Local Government Area Plateau State on a motor cycle. Suspects abandoned their motor cycle on sighting troops and fled,” he said.

He said items recovered included: 2 AK47 rifles, 101 rounds of 7.62mm special, 5 magazines, 1 motor cycle, 1 iron digger and 2 black jackets.

Making the disclosure Onyeuko said: “On 28 June 2022 based on intelligence, troops conducted a cordon search operation at Fanock Village, Jema’a Local Government Area Kaduna State and found a Toyota Corolla car with registration number ABUJA KUJ 452 AZ with no occupant.”

He said that troops conducted search operations in the surrounding bush and rescued 3 kidnaped civilians; 2 females and a male.

He said on same day troops arrested 10 armed robbery suspects at Kafanchan Town, Jema’a Local Government Area Kaduna State. Most of the suspected robbers are youths. According to the statement, the suspects include Messrs Manga Ismail 22 years, Idris Haruna (Ban Sambo) 20 years, Sani Bali 19 years, Shamsudeen Ladan 25 years, Abdulmajid Yau (Sele) 22 years, Abubakar Hassan 23 years, Abbas Aliyu 15 years, Mohammed Umar (Jazuli) 17 years, Jonathan Vincent (Bamai) 19 years and Stephen Joseph 25 years.

“Items recovered from the criminals include: TV, DVD, gas cookers, Mattrasses, woofer, phones, scissors, among others.

“They are presently undergoing interrogations,” the Defence spokesman stated.

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