The Rivers State Police Command has arrested 10 suspected kidnappers during a raid of a criminal hideout in Igwuruta, Ikwerre Local Government Area of the state.
The police command said the arrests were made on Saturday after the Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, led policemen to comb bushes and destroy suspected kidnappers’ camp behind the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Igwuruta, on the outskirt of Port Harcourt believed to be a hideout for miscreants.
The CP was accompanied by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations, Adepoju Olugbenga, some area commanders, heads of tactical units, divisional police officers, and other officers of the command.
Olugbenga said the command was worried about recent activities of suspected kidnappers terrorising the Obiri-Ikwerre-Airport Road axis near the state capital who operate and return to their hideouts. He also disclosed that more than 12 make-shift tents in camps abandoned by the suspected kidnappers were destroyed.
He added, “It is a routine exercise. We normally go on a show of strength once or twice weekly and we mostly patrol vulnerable points where we feel we are having issues with hoodlums trying to disturb the peace of the state.
“You would have observed that within these few days, there have been issues of hoodlums trying to waylay people going to the airport. We have deployed a lot of operatives in that axis and as part of our routine as directed by the Commissioner of Police to ensure that the state is free of crime and criminality, we have to move in there.
“So, we combed the area with the Commissioner of Police in the early hours of this morning (Saturday) and we have arrested some people who were hibernating in that area, about 10 of them. We equally have some camps where they have shanties with people resting; many of them have left the place.”7