The police in Abia State, South-east Nigeria, have arrested 162 crime suspects for various offences.
The police spokesperson in the state, Maureen Chinaka, disclosed this during a press briefing at the State Police Headquarters in Umuahia on Friday.
A text of the briefing was posted on the Facebook page of the police in the state Friday night.
The suspects
Ms Chinaka, an assistant superintendent of police, said the suspects included 142 males and 20 females.
The police spokesperson said some suspects arrested allegedly committed armed robbery, child trafficking, stealing, unlawful possession of firearms and kidnapping.
She said some suspects had been arraigned while the court had already convicted others.
But did not give details of the suspects and the court that convicted them.
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The text of the briefing showed that the police paraded some suspects at the police facility on Friday.
Ms Chinaka said one suspect, Chinyere Nwaje, a 45-year-old native doctor, was arrested for allegedly buying a stolen Sienna vehicle in the state.
She said in an earlier operation in April, police operatives serving Arochukwu Divisional Police Headquarters arrested a nursing mother, Ikwo Effiong, for allegedly selling her three-month-old son.
The spokesperson said Ms Effiong was arrested alongside her stepmother, Blessing Effiong, whom she allegedly conspired with to sell the child, a twin, at N700,000.
The police also arrested a suspected accomplice, Nnenna Ukoha, 47, during the operation.
She said several arms and ammunition were recovered from the suspects during separate operations in the state.
The police said six trafficked children and four kidnap victims were rescued during separate operations in the state.
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Crime reduction
Ms Chinaka boasted that the police in the state had reduced criminal activities due to recent operations by the security agencies in the state.
The spokesperson listed some criminal activities which had reduced in the state to include armed robbery, kidnapping, child trafficking, rape, and vandalisation of government properties.
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