On Friday February 15th Akwa Ibom State police in the early hours arrested 400 suspected thugs in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital. The suspects were arrested in their hideout in Ewet Housing Estate.
While
reacting to the incident, Jeremiah Dogo, a Police Inspector, said the
“arrest was made possible by the deployment of extra policemen to the
state by the Inspector General of Police (IGP).”
Inspector Dogo
said the suspects confessed that they were brought in from Bayelsa and
Rivers states by PDP chieftains to help rig the general elections.
Reports has it that the hideout where the thugs were nabbed is believed to be owned by a PDP chieftain in the state.
The suspects are mostly indigenes of the two states. Heavy guns and ammunition were recovered from them.
Police
say they have received reports of the various hideouts of the thugs and
cultists that have come into the state in the last few days.
“We will make life unbearable for them,” a source in the state police command said.
The APC in the state has hailed the police for the arrest.
The
APC said the arrest has brought to fore the alleged statement by the
director-general of the state governor’s campaign council, Air Commodore
Idongesit Nkanga (rtd), that Governor Udom Emmanuel should prepare for
war if he wanted to win the upcoming election.
The party also
quoted the speaker of the state house of assembly, Onofiok Luke and
Senator Bassey Albert as allegedly saying a few months ago that they
would do everything possible to ensure the victory of the PDP in the
general elections.
The Publicity Secretary of the PDP in the
state, Comrade Iniobong Ememobong, said he was not aware of the arrest
of any group of persons said to be working for the party.
But the
State Commissioner of police, Mr. Bashir Makama, who confirmed the
arrests, said the police was still investigating the matter to find out
if the suspects were PDP or APC thugs.
Makama said the police
acted on intelligence report, hence carried out raids on suspected black
spots in Uyo and its environs to forestall any breakdown of law and
order during today’s residential election.
The Commissioner of
Police, who was also silent on the number of suspects arrested in the
sting operation, also said he was not aware of any vehicle caught with
money in it.
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