Against the back drop of security situation in the country and Bauchi State in particular, efforts to ensure that crime wave in the state is considerably reduced was stepped up in 2016, the Bauchi State Police Command has said.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Zaki M. Ahmed, said the Command through its avowed commitment to ensure the safety of lives and property within the state has intensified a 24-hour round the clock patrol, raids of identified black spots and flash points with a view to effectively check crime rate in the state, which he also disclosed, has yielded some remarkable successes.

He gave a list of recovered arms from January 2016 to include six AK 47 Rifles, one AK 49 Rifle, one assault Rifle, 15 fabricated guns, eleven locally made Pistols, One toy Pistol, one Revolver Pistol, one Macrov Pistol, five single barrel guns, eight dane guns, 36 cutlasses, bows and arrows.

The Commissioner of Police also said his Command recovered 347 rounds of live ammunition of 7.62mm, 22 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition, six rounds of 0.99mm live ammunition and 32 live cartridges.

Other items recovered from bandits, according to the statement are a golden colour Opel Vectra wagon with registration number AH 988 LGT, Volkswagen Transporter bus, grey in colour with registration number RYM 81 RA, Mercedes Benz C240 with registration number Lagos AGL 303 CY, one dark blue Toyota Highlander SUV, one Toyota Corolla saloon car with registration number YGJ 133 AA, one Honda Accord, red in colour 1992 model, one dark green Honda Accord 1996 model with registration number AA-941-KRF, one red Honda Civic with registration number ES-790-KRD Lagos, one white leater Hiace model F with Reg. No. AL 922 GME.

Also, 43 motorcycles of different brands were recovered.

The Police Command also recovered one plier, four Plasma TV sets, one LG DVD player, a Laptop, 47 telephone handsets, 53 wraps of dry leaves suspected to be Indian Hemp, one knife, one DVD player etc. A cash of N2.135 million was also recovered. Similarly, 399 cows, 139 sheep and goats were recovered.

The Command also disclosed that it rescued over 163 hostages largely women and children, arrested over 636 suspects comprising of 167 suspected kidnappers, 204 robbery suspects etc. Other suspects arrested include cattle rustlers and suspected Sara-Suka (Political Thugs).

“They have volunteered very useful information to the Police regarding their nefarious activities and level of involvements. Meanwhile, 603 suspects were charged to court, 10 suspects cleared while 23 others are under investigations.

“Furthermore, during the period under review, the Command Anti Kidnapping unit in collaboration with Danga security and local Vigilante groups arrested one Muhammadu Abdullahi of Dugurawa village of Ningi LGA of Bauchi State.

“Suspect was arrested at Lame District in Toro LGA while conveying hard drugs and food stuffs to suspected armed robbers and hostage takers for ransom in Yuga/burra forest of Ningi and Toro LGA of Bauchi State.

“Exhibits recovered from the suspect include 2,500 tablets of Tramadol of 22 mg, suspected to be hard drugs. Other yet to be ascertained drugs weighing 3 KG and one Boxer motorcycle.

“In a related development, following intelligence report, Police detectives attached to Ganjuwa Division also arrested one Hashimu Nasiru of Buzum hamlet of Ganjuwa LGA of Bauchi State. “Suspect was arrested on his way to suspected kidnappers hideouts in Buzum forest of Ganjuwa LGA.

“Exhibit recovered from him include one handset containing video footage of suspected kidnappers counting and sharing ransom collected from their victims.

“Meanwhile, all the suspects freely confessed to the crime and are assisting the Police with useful information.

“It is pertinent to emphasise here that these aforementioned successes were made possible through information availed to the Police from well meaning members of the public, who as partners in progress with the Nigeria Police share our desires and aspirations to enable a safe and secure environment for all residents in the state.

“The Command has put in place crime preventive measures which includes visibility policing, Community Partnership, constant raids of black spots, regular foot and vehicular patrols, surveillance on buildings and vulnerable areas, stop and search, and intelligence led policing through partnership with sister agencies and other non-Governmental organisations in order to provide safety and security in the state.

“Also, incompliance with the IGPs directive, the Command has recently launched Change Begins with Me campaign and Police Public Complaint Rapid Response unit (PCRRU). Today you are also going to witness the distribution of (PCRRU) flyers and IGPs core value to stakeholders in order to enable members of the public who have complaint against any of our action to report directly to Police Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU) for prompt action.

“Equally, tremendous effort are made in collaboration with all major stakeholders to get valuable information which after evaluation can be used as actionable intelligence that can assist in fighting crime in the state. The whole idea is to nip in the bud these emergent trends of crime presently bedevilling the State due to influx of suspected Cattle Rustlers, Kidnappers and Insurgents and other misguided elements.

“The Command assured members of the public that despite above mentioned challenges, it is fully committed and battle ready towards ensuring safety and security in the State. People should feel free to come forward with any reasonable information and be rest assured that it will be treated with outmost confidentiality.

“More so, the command has made adequate security arrangement to ensure a hitch free Christmas and New Year celebration.”

•Bauchi Police Commissioner Zaki M. Ahmed.