THE Kwara State police command apprehended a total of 275 criminal suspects across the state in 2019, including those behind the kidnap of four Turkish nationals, who were rescued alive.
Speaking at the command’s end of year dinner and award night in Ilorin at the weekend, the state Commissioner of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, charged officers under his command to sustain the peaceful atmosphere in the state.
Egbetokun said: “My dogged officers arrested 275 armed robberies and kidnap suspects last year alone with over 45 arms and ammunition recovered from them. Although some of those criminals committed the offences outside Kwara State and ran down here with believing that the state would be a hideout for them, they were eventually apprehended.”
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The police boss said that the arrest of the suspects involved in the abduction of four Turkish nationals at Gbugbu in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara North was part of landmark achievements of the command in the past year.
Egbetokun stated that Kwara State is one of the most peaceful states in the country, adding that the situation was due to the level of commitment of security personnel in the state.
He, however, charged the officers to be more committed to duties and look beyond lack of commensurate appreciation from citizens.
He said: “It is no secret that the police in this country get more derision than praise for the effort it put into providing peace and security for citizens in the most challenging environment and circumstances. But if not anyone else, we must appreciate ourselves for the fact that the state we are policing is peaceful.”
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