The Nigeria Police Force in Akwa Ibom State says it recovered 69 firearms and arrested 178 suspects involved in armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism, drug trafficking and other crimes between January and May.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Baba Azare, disclosed this during a press briefing at the command headquarters in Uyo on Monday.
Mr Azare said the arrests and recoveries resulted from intelligence-led policing, coordinated raids, stop-and-search operations and tactical interventions across identified criminal hotspots in the state during the months under review.
According to him, the operations targeted armed robbery, kidnapping, illegal possession of firearms, cultism, burglary, human trafficking and drug trafficking networks.
“One of the major breakthroughs recorded within the period under review was the arrest of a suspected drug kingpin and four accomplices during an intelligence-driven operation carried out at Okobo Ebughu in Mbo Local Government Area,” the police commissioner said.
