FROM RAHILA ABDULLAHI, KADUNA
Kaduna State Police Command has arrested 27 suspected criminals and recovered a cache of dangerous weapons and hard drugs in a joint operation with the military, Department of State Service, DSS, KADGIS and vigilante groups.
The operation was conducted in Kawo area and surroundings on June 8.
According to the police, the operation was part of their efforts to identify, flush out and dismantle criminal elements threatening the peace in some designated areas.
Exhibits recovered during the operation include knives, axes, cutlasses and large quantities of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp and other hard drugs.
The Commissioner of Police, Rabiu Muhammad, reiterated the command’s unwavering commitment to maintain law and order across the state.
The police also warned that anyone with intentions to cause violence or disrupt public order is strongly advised to desist or vacate the state.
This development came amid concerns over the resurgence of urban gangsters in Kawo area, which has seen repeated reports of robberies and attacks.
In a related incident, a naval officer was stabbed to death by suspected phone snatchers near Kawo Flyover on Saturday.
The officer, Lieutenant Commander M. Buba, a student at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, AFCSC, in Jaji, was driving back to base when he had a flat tire near the bridge.
As he stopped to change the tire, a suspect approached him, demanding his mobile phone. When the officer resisted, the suspect stabbed him in the chest with a locally made knife.
According to eyewitnesses, a local vigilante, Suleiman Dahiru, who attempted to intervene, was also stabbed in the hand.
However, passersby overpowered the attacker and lynched him on the spot.
The naval officer was rushed to Manaal Hospital but was declared dead on arrival. His body was later deposited at 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital mortuary in Kaduna.
The Armed Forces Command and Staff College has launched an investigation to unravel the full circumstances surrounding the murder, while the police is also working to identify and apprehend other suspects involved in the incident.
