He said: “Without mincing words, our country, like many other parts of the globe, is experiencing security challenges arising from the activities of criminal elements seeking to undermine the peace and security of our nation. This development demands instant and appropriate response from us as the lead agency in the internal security architecture of the country.
Kidnappers and terrorists, at the weekend, got more daring in their deadly activities, as they struck at the Sabo Lugbe axis, along Airport Road and Karmo district of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, abducting four persons in separate attacks and vanishing into the Kuje forest and the Karmo hills and bushes with their victims.
The incidents occurred between 10.30 pm on Saturday and 1.30 am on Sunday.
However, the Police, in response to distress calls, traced the kidnappers to Kuje forest, and Idu-Gwagwa hills and bushes, and rescued the four victims after a shootout with the kidnappers who abandoned their victims and fled.
This happened less than 48 hours after five Almajirai and two suspected members of Boko Haram died in an Improvised Explosive Devices, IED, explosion, suspected to be a suicide attack, another IED planted by terrorists on the Pulka/Firgi road in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno killed seven farmers in a commercial vehicle and injured seven others.
Worried by the worsening insecurity, a coalition of Civil society Organisations, CSOs, under the auspices of joint action group, Community of Practice Against Mass Atrocities, and Nigeria Mourns, yesterday, lamented that Nigeria is under siege, and urged President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency on kidnapping, terrorism and other forms of criminality.
Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, yesterday, said that since inauguration of the Special Intervention Squad, SIS, in the FCT about a fortnight ago, the camp of criminal elements had been significantly decimated, with the arrest of 139 kidnapping and armed robbery suspects.
He also said that no fewer than 154 victims were rescued within the period. The SIS was set up on January 17.
How FCT Police, SIS rescued 4 victims
FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh while confirming the abduction and rescue of the victims, said: ”On Saturday, January 27, 2024, at about 11:30pm, a distress call was received at Iddo Division that sounds of gunshots were heard around Sabon Lugbe axis.
“Police patrol teams were drafted to the scene where one Blessing Eze was met with a bullet wound on her shoulder inside a Toyota Corolla car with RSH 724 KC, black in colour.
“Blessing explained that she and her husband, one Joshua Eze, were returning home when some hoodlums in an unknown vehicle double-crossed them, fired gun at their vehicle and abducted her husband.
“In response, IGP Special Intervention Squad , SIS, Police Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the command and other tactical section swung into action. Victim was rescued unhurt at Kuje forest on Sunday, January 28, 2024, at about 06:20pm.
“In a related development, on Sunday, January 28, 2024, at about 05:30 am, one Peter Ede in company of one Thankgod Ogunyi, all males, of Piwoyi, Lugbe reported at Karmo Division that on same date at about 01:50am while praying at Idu Gbagyi mountain, Karmo, some criminal elements numbering about seven, armed with guns and cutlasses, attacked them and abducted three of their members to an unknown destination.
“On receipt of the report, police operatives from Karmo Division, led by the Divisional Police Officer, CSP Abaya Haruna, swiftly mobilized to the scene, combed the surrounding bushes and hills between Karmo and Gwagwa, and engaged the hoodlums in a serious gun battle.
“The three victims, namely one Igbodi Emeka, Precious Uche and Eric Chukwuendu were rescued unhurt.’’
Calling for understanding and cooperation of the citizenry, the Police spokesman said: “The FCT Police Command is always committed and willing to work with residents of the FCT to defeat crime and criminality in all its forms in the Federal Capital Territory.”
How Boko Haram’s IEDs killed 7 farmers, injured 7 in Borno
Sources, including Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency expert in the Lake Chad region, yesterday, confirmed that IEDs planted by terrorists on the Pulka/Firgi road in Gwoza LGA killed seven farmers in a commercial vehicle.
The sources said the incident occurred in the early hours of yesterday when the vehicle conveying the victims ran over an explosive device.
“Seven passengers, including the driver, were confirmed dead, seven others were severely injured, while other bodies were shattered into pieces by the explosive,” sources disclosed.
ISWAP and Boko Haram terrorists have been resorting to desperate but extreme measures to fight back against the crushing intrusion of their enclaves by the Nigerian Military.
According to the investigation, the terrorists now heightened the use of IEDs as their major warfare tactics due to their weakness and depleted capacity.
These landmines had in the past days and weeks claimed the lives of innocent civilians – mostly women and children in Borno State, Northeast Nigeria.
The IEDs, mostly locally made bombs, account for more than half of fatalities recorded in the ongoing counter-insurgency campaign in the Northeast.
We arrested 139 kidnappers, rescued 154 victims in 2 weeks – IGP Egbetokun
Speaking on the impact of the SIS in Abuja, in less than two weeks, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, said: “The SIS working in conjunction with the FCT Police Command has also rescued 154 kidnapped victims unhurt, recovered 3 GPR chargers, two AK-47 rifles, one Type-06, four locally fabricated guns, one Berretta pistol, two Makarov Pistols, four locally fabricated pump action guns, 504 pieces of AK-47 ammunition, and 100 pieces of AA ammunition.
“Among the successes recorded was the interception along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway of three major suppliers of arms and ammunition to bandits operating in Niger, Zamfara, and Kaduna states. Similarly, operatives of the Squad on Friday 26th January, 2024, engaged some armed bandits within the FCT-Kaduna axis in a fierce gun battle during which three of them, including their gang leader, one Mai-Gemu (aka Gadoro) were neutralized.”
IGP Egbetokun made this known at the inauguration of the Special Intervention Squad Training for Commanders of the SIS to be deployed across the country, at the Goodluck Jonathan Peacekeeping Hall, Abuja.
He said: “Without mincing words, our country, like many other parts of the globe, is experiencing security challenges arising from the activities of criminal elements seeking to undermine the peace and security of our nation. This development demands instant and appropriate response from us as the lead agency in the internal security architecture of the country.
“The situation at hand has challenged our ingenuity such that beyond the conventional reactive response approach to crime management, we conceived the idea of the Special Intervention Squad, to serve as an elite unit of the Force, designed to anticipate, respond spontaneously and manage crises.