In determination to end the endless kidnappings and other criminal
activities along the ever-busy Abuja-Kaduna road, the Nigeria Police
says it has commenced full operation on the highway.
The Inspector General of Police, IGP Ibrahim, has deployed a Joint Police
Team comprising Special Police Force, Police Mobile Force, Counter
Terrorism Squad, Anti-Kidnapping Units, Intelligence Response Team,
Special Tactical Squad, the Force Intelligence Branch, the Police Mobile
Force stationed at Rijanah, Kaduna State.
A statement by the Force PRO, Moshood Jimoh on Tuesday, said the
Joint Police Team are under specific and definite mandate to root out
the kidnap for ransom gangs and armed robbery gangs that have being
terrorising the Abuja-Kaduna Highway in the recent times.
He added that the operations is to complement and augment the on-going Joint Police/Military operations on ground before now.
According to him, “to achieve success of the operations Absolute
sanity, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Department of Operations
has been mandated to supervise the operation as overall Commander while
the Deputy Commissioner of Police, In-Charge of the Police Mobile Force
is the Grand Commander of the Operations.
“The Police personnel will be proactive and work on actionable
Intelligence at the disposal of the Force and carry out massive
deployment and twenty four (24) hours surveillance and patrol,
continuous raids of identified and other suspected hideouts of the
kidnappers with a view to arresting them promptly before they attack
innocent people. They will also nip in the bud other violence crimes
such as armed robbery, car snatching etc on Abuja-Kaduna.
The force spokesman added that Police Helicopters will embark on
aerial surveillance and guided missions to assist the operation Absolute
Sanity’s personnel on the ground in covering difficult terrains.
“The Inspector General of Police hereby urges members of the public,
most especially commuters, travellers, road users and people in the
towns and villages along Abuja-Kaduna Highway not to panic on the mass
deployment of Police personnel, but to assist and cooperate with the
Police personnel in the discharge of their responsibilities,” Jimoh
added.