Insecurity: Nigeria Police arrest 3 Chinese, 18 other illegal miners over alleged link with kidnappers

*The FCT Command of the Nigeria Police discloses the operation was executed in line with the directive of Heads of the security agencies to curb the menace of kidnappings, banditry, and other criminal activities in the FCT and neighbouring states

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

In what the Police authorities have codenamed ‘Operation Safe G-7’, the operatives of the Nigeria Police, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, have disclosed their discovery of some firearms from illegal miners arrested on the coast of Nasarawa State in the West African country.

ConsumerCoonnect reports the FCT Command in a statement issued Tuesday, January 4, 2022, said at least 21 illegal resource miners, including a community leader and three Chinese citizens were caught unawares and apprehended during a recent offensive against the criminal elements in Azam village, near Nasarawa State of Nigeria.

Some mineral resources in Nigeria

The majority of the arrested suspects were picked up from the various bordering states, according to the security operatives.

The Police authorities noted the items recovered from them reportedly include refined and unrefined gold, two gold weigh scales, criminal charms, 17 mobile phones, four motorcycles, two Dane guns, and some shovels.

It was gathered others items retrieved from the suspects are cutlasses, two pumping machines, a power generating set, substances suspected to be Cannabis, and other forms of hard drugs.

DSP Josephine Adeh, FCT Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), also stated that the sting operation was carried out on the directive of the heads of the security agencies in the region to curb the menace of kidnapping, banditry and other criminal activities within the FCT and its neighbouring states, including, Kogi, Niger, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Benue and Plateau.

Adeh also explained that the exercise, codenamed operation “Safe G-7”, was aimed at embarking on a massive raid and cleanup operation in all marked hideouts, camps and areas serving as refuges to criminal elements.

The Police PRO further noted said the Azam village invasion was carried out on day two of the exercise.

Police authorities also purported that illegal gold miners, who had established a relationship with bandits and kidnappers in the forest, engaged the security agents in a gun duel upon sighting them at the said mining site.

The Police statement said: “The exercise is codenamed operation “Safe G-7” and is intending to further promote confidence-building and take the fight to the miscreants in their hideout at the various boundaries between the FCT and the said contingents states, so as to enhance safety and security within and around the states.

“The continuation of yesterday’s operation in Matte, Kwali area council, to reclaim the village which was recently invaded by suspected bandits, was successfully and immediately followed up with deployments to provide the needed security going forward.

“Following the above, today Tuesday, 4th January, 2022, the JTF in compliance with the G-7 mandates on day two of their operation, continued the patrol of villages sharing boundaries with Nasarawa State.”

It further stated: “The team upon the receipt of actionable intelligence stormed a camp at Azam village, where an illegal mining site of about 40 minutes walking distance from the said village was discovered.

“The miners who were said to have established a symbiotic relationship with bandits/ Kidnappers engaged the team in a gun duel and were forced to retreat, subsequently overpowered by the superior firepower of the JTF and arrested.

“The team recorded the successful arrest of about 21 illegal miners on the sites including foreign nationals.”

Suspects linked with possession of hard drugs

Meanwhile, the arrested suspects reportedly confessed to enjoying unfiltered cooperation with the Head of the local community, who was also immediately taken into custody alongside the main suspects.

The three male Chinese national suspects arrested in connection to the offence would be officially handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) with a view of establishing their immigration status in Nigeria, said the PPRO.

According Adeh, the two suspects linked with the possession of the drugs would also be handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), as an investigation into the matter begins.

The statement also said: “The Commissioner of Police FCT Command, CP Babaji Sunday, PSC, while registering the Command’s unflinching commitment to the crusade against crime and criminality in the state, urges residents to not relent in cooperating with the Police as touching the rendition of prompt and accurate information relevant in supporting the command’s anti-criminality crusade.”

The Police PRO added: “The Command implores residents to report all suspicious movements, emergencies or distresses through the following lines: 08032003913, 08061581938, 07057337653 and 08028940883.”

Kindly Share This Story