TheCable

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) says at least 950 suspected criminals have been arrested in the federal capital territory (FCT) in the last three months. 

Olumuyiwa Adejobi, NPF spokesperson, disclosed this during a briefing with journalists on Thursday in Lagos.

Adejobi said the police had “stepped up” its intelligence in the nation’s capital with the aid of the Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB).

He added that most of these suspected criminals “hibernate in some of these shanties” in the city, which prompted the destruction of several slums in the metropolis.

“We have stepped up intelligence in FCT, and, generally, the IGP upscaled the intelligence bureau to a full department,” he said.

“In the FCT, through the raid operations carried out, I can say police have arrested nothing less than 950 suspects, and many of them have been taken to court in the past two to three months or thereabouts.

“We just noticed that people troop into the FCT, and they have no means of livelihood, and they just hibernate in some of these shanties.

“That is why we have been destroying shanties in the FCT. We cannot afford to keep this type of people in the city. So, on kidnapping, we are on it.”

On Monday, Operation Sweep, a new joint task force in the FCT, said 400 persons were arrested and 50 vehicles were impounded.

The task force added that its operatives dislodged unapproved motor parks, removed illegal structures on the streets and destroyed shanties of scavengers.