Police Recover Looted Items, Arrest 93 Suspects In Kaduna

The police have arrested 93 suspects in connection with the looting and vandalisation of public and private properties in various parts of Kaduna State.

Mr Umar Muri, the Commissioner of Police in Kaduna, disclosed this on Saturday while briefing reporters on the security situation in the state.

The arrest came days after some residents hiding under the #EndSARS protest invaded some government warehouses, including the office of the National Agency for Food Drug Administration (NAFDAC), as well as private properties and carted away COVID-19 palliatives and seized fake and expired drugs, among other items.

Muri stated that the arrested suspects were responsible for the unprecedented vandalisation and theft of public and private properties across the state.

He revealed that the police also recovered several looted items, including bags of grains, mattresses,  bundles of zinc, computers, air conditioners, water testing machines, and many others, all looted from the NAFDAC office and other places.

According to the police commissioner, the command, working in collaboration with other sister security agencies have so far dealt decisively with all acts of lawlessness in the state.

He noted that efforts were ongoing to charge all the suspects to court for the crimes committed.

Elsewhere, the state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, met with youth leaders from the 23 Local Government Areas of Kaduna where he appealed to them not to engage in any act of violence or looting.

He gave an assurance that those behind the looting and threat to peace in Kaduna South and Chikun LGAs would be prosecuted in line with the provisions of the law.

The governor also condemned the recent attack on policemen and police barracks in some parts of the country, during which some security personnel were killed.

Although he admitted that there were some bad officers in the force that should be fished out, he warned against attacking police officers or tagging the entire force as bad.

El-Rufai stressed the need for citizens and leaders to come together and help the police to perform better in securing the lives and property of the people.

The meeting had in attendance the deputy governor, Hadiza Balarabe, and the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Mahmoud, among other top government officials.