Police arrest over 2,400 suspected criminals in Kano in 2024 —Commissioner

The Kano State Police Command has announced the arrest of 2,425 suspected criminals and the recovery of firearms, weapons, illicit drugs, and stolen items within the year 2024.

This was disclosed by the State Commissioner of Police, Salman Garba, during a press briefing held on Tuesday at the Police Command headquarters in Bompai.

“From 1st January to 31st December 2024, a total of two thousand, four hundred and twenty-five (2,425) suspects were arrested with recovery of firearms, dangerous weapons, illicit drugs, stolen properties, and other exhibits,” Garba stated.

The arrests included 189 suspects involved in armed robbery, 34 alleged kidnappers, 10 suspected cattle rustlers, and two individuals accused of gun running. Other suspects apprehended were 22 vehicle thieves, 58 drug dealers, 18 human trafficking suspects, 46 tricycle thieves, 28 motorcycle thieves, and four individuals arrested for forgery. Additionally, 27 suspected fraudsters and 1,987 thugs, locally referred to as *Yan Daba*, were also detained.

In the same period, the command rescued 40 victims of human trafficking, 13 kidnapped individuals, and two victims of abduction.

Garba further detailed the weapons recovered during the operations, which included seven AK-47 rifles, one Beretta pistol, one pump-action rifle, four Dane guns, seven locally made guns, four toy guns, and 1,213 rounds of live ammunition. Other seized items included 57 cutlasses and 198 sharp knives.

READ ALSO: NDLEA raids drug joints, arrests 34 in Kano

The police also recovered 12 motor vehicles, 44 motorcycles, 15 tricycles, and counterfeit currencies totaling N129 billion, among other items.

“At the beginning of the year, there were security challenges across the 44 LGAs of the state, including the threat of infiltration of bandits, kidnapping, and armed robbery along the villages in 17 frontline border LGAs of the state bordering Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa, and Bauchi States,” Garba noted.

To address these issues, the Commissioner explained that the command, under the guidance of Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun, conducted a thorough assessment of the security landscape in Kano.

“An action plan was designed to effectively police the state. The following strategies were incorporated in the Command’s action plan: robust community policing engagements, sustenance of targeted clearance operations, intelligence-led and visibility policing, synergy with sister security agencies, and strategic communication in public enlightenment and sensitisation,” he explained.

He assured residents that the command remains committed to intensifying its efforts in maintaining law and order. “The Command will continue to; intensify community policing engagements, engage in robust intelligence-led policing, conduct targeted clearance operations, and carry out massive public enlightenment and sensitisation to meet the dynamic security demands of the state,” Garba concluded.

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