In its efforts to check criminal activities in Delta State, the State Police, Warri Area Command, weekend, arrested 40 suspected criminals and cultists during a raid in Ovwian Aladja, Warri.
Speaking to our correspondent, Frank Efe in Warri, the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Warri Area command, Mr. Rabiu Hussaini said efforts had been intensified by the Police in combating crime in the area as raiding all hot spots in the command had been embarked upon.
He said that 14 suspects out of the 40 suspects arrested, had already been charged and arraigned in court, stressing that the police will not relent on its efforts until there is peace in the area.
He said; “We have intensified our efforts in terms of raiding which we have embarked upon. Owvian- Aladja have been under siege by cultists who come out to harass innocent citizens at night and even in daylight. We have an operational order to combat the menace of cultism in the area. And so far so good, in the two days raiding we have conducted, we have been able to arrest 40 suspects.”
Hussain called on citizens to cooperate with the police saying that the police were not out to disturb them but that they out to make sure that the community waspeaceful and safe for people to live in.
The Assistant Commissioner of Police noted that; “We will not relent until there is peace in the area. I want to call on spirited individuals in the community to assist us. We are not trying to disturb them but we are trying to help them and make sure that they live in a safe community. So they should give us their maximum cooperation to that regards.”
While saying that peace was gradually coming to Warri, Rabiu said they were fortifying the security in Warri and its environs so that criminal elements chased out from one community do not go to other communities to cause havoc.
“As we are combating the cultists and criminals in Aladja, we are equally fortifying security in other divisions. We want Warri and its environs to have relative peace. Peace has gradually come back and we are achieving peace in this Warri Area Command and we want to sustain it,” he added.
He also noted that those arrested were between the ages of twenty to thirty years of age, and that almost all of them never had a means of livelihood to sustain themselves.
Hussain, also commended the efforts of the local vigilante groups in the area in helping the police to arrest some of the suspected criminals and cultists in the area, just as he assured them that government was solidly behind them.
He said; “We are working hand in hand with the local vigilantes. They are even the pointers because they know the people living in their area. So far we do not have any criminals among them and we are working in tandem with them. I am commending their hard work because most of the criminals that we have arrested in Igbudu area was as a result of the help of the vigilante groups. I want the public to know that government is actually behind the vigilante groups.”
