Kwara Police Nab Suspected Supplier Linked to Bandit Activities

The Kwara State Command of the Nigeria Police Force has confirmed the arrest of a suspected member of a logistic network allegedly supplying materials to bandits and other criminal groups in the state.

The suspect was arrested in Ilorin, the state capital, during a major operation by the command’s Violent Crime Response Unit.

SP Adetoun Ejire Adeyemi, the Police Public Relations Officer of the command disclosed this in a statement issued in Ilorin on Thursday, June 18.

The arrest was made after credible intelligence and sustained surveillance by the unit’s operatives, Adeyemi said.

According to her, the suspect’s activities were in connection with the movement and supply of materials suspected to be for criminal elements operating in forests and remote locations within the state.

“Acting on credible intelligence and sustained covert surveillance, operatives of the Unit arrested a suspect in Ilorin whose activities are strongly connected to the movement and supply of materials suspected to be destined for criminal elements operating within forested enclaves and remote locations across the State,” she said.

“Among the items recovered in connection with the investigation was a large quantity of assorted cigarette brands and other rations, believed to be part of a logistics chain servicing criminal groups.”

The police spokesperson said the preliminary investigation showed the suspect allegedly played a strategic support role in a broader network that provided supplies and other forms of assistance to bandits and allied criminal groups.

Investigators recovered photographs from the suspect’s mobile phone showing him dressed in military camouflage and seated on a Bajaj motorcycle, she said.

The finding, Adeyemi said, further strengthened intelligence reports on the alleged connections of the suspect with criminal elements.

Preliminary investigation shows that the suspect has a strategic role of support in a wider network that provides food and other support to bandits and related criminal elements,” she said.

“Intelligence leading to his suspected involvement with criminal elements was further enhanced by photographs recovered from the suspect’s mobile device during the course of the investigation, which showed him dressed in military camouflage and seated on a Bajaj motorcycle.

“Other collaborators connected to the network are being sought and arrested.”

The state’s Commissioner of Police, Adekimi Ojo, assured residents that security operations across Kwara were being strengthened to target not only armed criminals but their accomplices too.

Ojo said the command would continue to sustain criminal activities in the state through the logistics structures, collaborators, informants and suppliers.

He pledged police would deny criminal groups the resources, freedom of movement and support networks they needed to operate.

The command, the commissioner added, was unrelenting in sustaining pressure on all persons involved in aiding criminality in any form.

The police said the arrest was part of ongoing efforts to dismantle criminal networks and weaken operational capacity of bandits and allied groups across the state.

The command urged residents to be security conscious and give timely information that would help security agencies identify criminal collaborators and prevent attacks.

It also told the public that investigations were underway and all persons found connected to the alleged logistics network would be brought to justice.