By Longtong Ibrahim
The Inspector General of the Nigeria Police Force, Ibrahim K. Idris, has deployed a Joint Police Team to checkmate the incessant cases of Kidnappings and other criminal activities on Abuja-Kaduna Highway with its Headquarters at Rijanah.
The Joint Team comprised of Special Police Force, Police Mobile Force, Counter Terrorism Squad, Anti-Kidnapping Units, Intelligence Response Team, Special Tactical Squad, Force Intelligence Branch, and the Police helicopters.
Spokesperson of the Force, Jimoh O. Moshood, in a statement pointed out that, the Joint Police Team are under specific and definite mandate to root out the kidnap for ransom gangs and armed robbery gangs that have been terrorizing the Abuja-Kaduna Highway in recent times.
He said the operation is to complement and augment the on-going Joint Police/Military operations on ground before now.
“To achieve success of the operations Absolute sanity, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Department of Operations has been mandated to supervise the operation as overall Commander while the Deputy Commissioner of Police, In-Charge of the Police Mobile Force is the Grand Commander of the Operations.
“The Police personnel will be proactive and work on actionable Intelligence at the disposal of the Force and carry out massive deployment and twenty four (24) hours surveillance and patrol, continuous raids of identified and other suspected hideouts of the kidnappers with a view to arresting them promptly before they attack innocent people. They will also nip in the bud other violence crimes such as armed robbery, car snatching etc on Abuja-Kaduna.
“Police Helicopters will embark on aerial surveillance and guided missions to assist the operation Absolute Sanity’s personnel on the ground in covering difficult terrains,” the statement added.
While calling on the public especially travelers and those residing in areas along the highway not to panic on the mass deployment of Police personnel, the Inspector General of Police urged them to assist and cooperate with the officers in the discharge of their responsibilities.
