Police Arrest Suspected Bandit Supplier in Kwara State

The Kwara State Command of the Nigeria Police Force has confirmed the arrest of a suspected member of a logistic network that is allegedly supplying materials to bandits and other criminal groups in the state.

The suspect was arrested in Ilorin, the state capital, in a major operation carried out by the command’s Violent Crime Response Unit.

The Police Public Relations Officer of the command, SP Adetoun Ejire Adeyemi, said this in a statement issued in Ilorin on Thursday, June 18.

Adeyemi said the arrest was made following credible intelligence and sustained surveillance by the unit’s operatives.

She said the activities of the suspect were in connection with the movement and supply of materials suspected to be for criminal elements operating in forests and remote locations within the state.

“The operatives of the Unit, acting on credible intelligence and sustained covert surveillance, arrested a suspect in Ilorin whose activities are strongly connected to the movement and supply of materials suspected to be destined for criminal elements operating within forested enclaves and remote locations across the State,” she said.

“A large quantity of assorted cigarette brands and other rations, believed to be part of a logistics chain servicing criminal groups, was among items recovered in connection with the investigation.”

The police spokesperson said during preliminary investigations, the suspect allegedly played a strategic support role in a broader network that provided supplies and other forms of assistance to bandits and allied criminal groups.

Investigators seized photographs from the suspect’s mobile phone of him wearing military camouflage and seated on a Bajaj motorcycle, she said.

The finding, Adeyemi said, further corroborated intelligence reports on the alleged links of the suspect with criminal elements.

“Preliminary investigation reveals that the suspect has a strategic role of support in a wider network that provides food and other support to bandits and related criminal elements,” she said.

“Further, intelligence that led to his suspected involvement with criminal elements was augmented by photographs retrieved from the suspect’s mobile device during the investigation, showing him in military camouflage and sitting on a Bajaj motorcycle.

“We are looking for and arresting other collaborators linked to the network.”

Adekimi Ojo, the state’s Commissioner of Police, assured residents that security operations in Kwara were being intensified to target not only armed criminals but also their accomplices.

Ojo said the command will continue to sustain criminal activities in the state through the logistics structures, collaborators, informants and suppliers.

He promised that police would cut off the resources, freedom of movement and support networks that criminal groups needed to operate.

“The command was unrelenting in sustaining pressure on all persons involved in aiding criminality in any form,” the commissioner added.

The police said the arrest was part of ongoing efforts to break up criminal networks and weaken the operational capacity of bandits and allied groups across the state.

The command urged residents to be security conscious and provide timely information that would assist security agencies in identifying criminal collaborators and prevent attacks.

It also informed the public that investigations were ongoing and all persons found involved in the alleged logistics network would be brought to justice.

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