Police demolish criminal
hideouts in Ishawo creeks
Arrests 13 suspected
kidnappers, kills one
They have murdered sleep, we
will hunt them down- Cp assures
Security operatives from the
Lagos State Police Command deployed to the riverine area of the Ishawo
Community in Ikorodu area of the State on Wednesday commenced total demolition
of illegal waterfront shanties within the creeks where criminal elements
hibernate to perpetrate their nefarious activities.
The State’s Commissioner of
Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni who briefed journalists in Ishawo on the ongoing
operations in the creeks by a combined team of the State Marine Police, the
Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), mobile policemen and the men from the anti-kidnapping
squad in coordination with the local vigilante group, said 13 suspected
kidnappers have already been arrested and are currently aiding the team to
track down the remaining suspects still on the run.
It would be recalled that two
weeks ago, four Police Officers and one Army Captain lost their lives after an
ambush unleashed on them by suspected militants in Ishawo area.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode,
while condoling with the families and loved ones of the departed officers, had
assured that every perpetrator directly or remotely linked to the dastardly act
would be brought to justice in the shortest possible time.
Owoseni said that the Governor
immediately ordered a joint operation to hunt down the perpetrators, adding
that the operation was yielding positive results.
“So far so good following the
attack that occurred at Ishawo where we lost four of our policemen and army
captain, we have deployed operatives in the water. What you have seen now is
for us to appraise what we have been doing for the past one week. So, quality
arrests have been made and we are talking to them because the arrests that were
made we believe that we get some evidential value from them, so they are
talking to us, at least that makes us to know who we are looking for so that we
won’t be just wild catching,” Owoseni said.
The Commissioner of Police who
was joined on the inspection of the joint operation to the den of the militants
in Ishawo Creeks by the Commander, Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Mr. Tunji Disu,
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Habib Aruna, security squad leaders
and some journalists, said the visit was to appraise the work done so far and
the next line of action.
“Earlier this morning, they
were able to get to the proper camps of these criminal elements where they saw
some of them cooking food who fled immediately they saw the combined team. We
just feel that we should take a decision to destroy the camps. The destruction
of the camps are ongoing, that is why we are here and the officers that are
handling the destruction of the camps, they are right inside the creeks now and
at the end of the day, they would share the story as they finish that
operations, but our movement here is just for you to see the terrain and see
what the security operatives are facing with regards to policing this
environment and that is why we are clamouring for the destruction of these
shanties”, Owoseni said.
Owoseni said that one of the
suspected militants died during a fierce encounter with the Intelligence
Response team of the Inspector General of Police, assuring residents in the
area that they would go all out to ensure that they fish out all criminal
elements in the State.
“We still want to assure
members of the public that these people have murdered sleep and they will not
sleep, we will make sure that all of them are rooted out and that they face the
full wrath of the law.
“The 13 suspects we have, we
are interrogating them and they are making useful statements for us and we are
making progress and you can see that helicopter surveillance is also supporting
all what we are doing but we want to assure members of the public around this
axis that the government is ready, the security agents are ready to ensure that
we put an end to the madness of these criminal elements,” the Commissioner of
Police said.
He said the Police have
gathered necessary information on the perpetrators still on the run, assuring
that one by one, they would be arrested and be made to face the full wrath of
the law.
He commended the synergy of
the combined efforts of the security operatives, just as he added that the
efforts of the local vigilante groups who are familiar with the terrain was
critical to the operation especially in aiding to navigate the hideouts of the
militants.
“I want use this opportunity
to thank the civilian men that have decided to join us and take us to navigate
the water and also give us a lead to the centre of activities which is the
creek where these criminal elements have been hibernating,” Owoseni said.
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