Etim Ekpimah
The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, has commended the Oyo State Police Command and the Force Intelligence Bureau Intelligence Response Squad (FIB-IRT) for their recent successes in crime-fighting achieved through the deployment of technologically advanced assets, community-based, as well as traditional policing methods, and improved police visibility.
The IGP specifically acknowledged the achievements recorded via identification, trailing, and arrest of criminal suspects through actionable technical and human intelligence including the arrest of 6 members of a notorious bank robbery gang after concluding plans to execute a bloody bank robbery attack on a new generation bank within the Ibadan metropolis in Oyo State.
According to a statement by the Public Force Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, on Sunday, the FIB-IRT successfully effected the arrest of five members of a fraud syndicate specialized in hacking into bank accounts of individuals and corporate bodies to steal monies.
He said: “The suspects were apprehended while attempting to hack into a company’s account and steal the sum of N3.4 billion. The IRT Operatives equally arrested a notorious arms dealer and two kidnap suspects in Kaduna leading to the release of two kidnapped victims in their custody, just to mention a few.
“The Inspector-General of Police has therefore tasked operatives to embrace wholistically, effective intelligence gathering, which aids the prevention of crime and criminal activities within the society.
“The IGP noted that preventive policing would in addition prevent the occurrence of crime, engender peace and assure the provision of optimal policing services to the citizenry. He assured of his administration’s unflinching commitment to maximizing the operational, intelligence, and investigative capacities of the Force in curbing the spread of crime and criminality within the country.”
He stated that all suspects in connection with the above-mentioned cases would be charged upon the conclusion of investigations while other suspects arrested across the country are being prosecuted at various courts of competent jurisdictions in the country.