Police arrest four suspected Boko Haram members in Edo

The Edo state police command says it has arrested four suspected members of Boko Haram who escaped into the state after perpetrating “heinous crimes in neighbouring Kogi state”.

Mohammed DanMallam, the commissioner of police in the state, disclosed this in an interview with NAN on Thursday.

DanMallam said the suspects were nabbed on a tip-off in their hide-out in Afuze, Edo north district.

He said on interrogation, one of the suspects confessed to having killed 40 of his victims, while another confessed to having escaped from Koton Karfi prison in 2014, and also participated in an armed robbery in Ekiti in 2013.

He, however, said that the suspects would be handed over to the police in Kogi for further interrogation as they committed the crimes in the state.

DanMallam also said since the inauguration of “Operation Puff Adder” in the state on May 2, the command had recorded some achievements in the fight against crime and criminality.

He explained that 34 suspects had been arrested in connection with armed robbery, and four others apprehended in connection with kidnapping.

He also said 32 suspected cultists had been arrested since the operation began, and that 10 different arms and 215 ammunitions were recovered.

The police chief disclosed that nine victims were rescued from the suspected kidnappers, while 11 vehicles were also recovered.

He restated that the fight against crime was continuous and that the command was committed to reducing the cases in the state to the barest minimum.