Your days are numbered — Buhari assures killers

President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed that Nigeria under his leadership will not be held hostage by criminal elements and murderers.

The President, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, to mark Eid el Fitr celebration assured Nigerians that the days of such criminals were already numbered.

He said: “Under no circumstances would criminals and mass murderers be allowed to hold the country to ransom. Their days are numbered because this administration will pursue them relentlessly and bring them to justice.”

President Buhari expressed satisfaction at the conduct of peaceful elections in Nigeria, despite what he called “doomsday predictions of social disharmony.”

He commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for a good job despite the initial difficulties and praised the voters for their tenacity and strong faith in the democratic process.

“Before the 2019 general election, prophets of doom didn’t give the country a chance to conduct peaceful elections. Despite these fears, the country overcame its political challenges.

“For abandoning their businesses in order to vote, the voters had demonstrated great patriotism in coming out to exercise their civic duty.

“Let me use this opportunity once again to reassure all Nigerians that your sacrifices in voting for me won’t be in vain. I will ensure the ordinary voters feel the positive impact of government,” the President said.

Turning to the lessons of the Ramadan, President Buhari urged Muslims to always put humanity before personal interests.

“The Ramadan period is meant to reinforce us spiritually, therefore, we should use religion as an inspiration to do good at all times.

“The virtues of the Ramadan should be sustained beyond the celebration. Going back to bad ways after the Ramadan might defeat the essence of the message and lessons the fasting period was supposed to inculcate in the hearts and minds of the Muslim faithful,” he said.

President Buhari also used the occasion to commiserate with victims of terrorism, kidnapping and banditry in the country.

Meanwhile, the Force Headquarters has said investigations have so far revealed that illegal arms, ammunition and other weapons fuelling insecurity in the country, are smuggled in from North Africa, Burkina Faso and Benin Republic.

It said the discovery followed the arrest of 38 suspected kidnappers, gun runners and armed robbers, who had been involved in criminal activities, especially in the North-West, North-Central, and North-East.

The suspected criminals were presented to journalists, yesterday, at the premises of the Special Tactical Squad (STS), situated within the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Abuja.

Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Mr. Frank Mba, who presented the suspects, said the operations that culminated in the arrests at different locations, were undertaken by operatives of the STS, as well as Intelligence Response Team (IRT), both of whom are domiciled in the office of the Inspector-General of Police.

According to Mba, a total of 20 AK-47 rifles, 10 automatic pistols, 11 dane guns, 4 pump action guns, as well as 6,000 live ammunition, were recovered during the operations.

“Between the last time and now, operatives of the STS and IRT have arrested a total of 38 suspects, who have been clearly and positively indicted for crimes such as kidnapping, armed robbery, gun-running across the country, particularly in the North-East, North-Central, and North-West,” Mba said.

He said the “gang specialises in bringing these weapons from North Africa, Burkina Faso, and Benin Republic.”

To buttress the position that the weapons recovered were, indeed, from the aforementioned countries, same were shown side by side with those used by the country’s security agencies, which have different colours.

On the smart way the suspects hide the illegally acquired ammunition, the FPRO said: “One of their concealment strategies is putting ammunition in toys, and sometimes in hides and skin.

“Sometimes, they build compartments in their cars, and sometimes, they hide them inside second-hand clothes, bound for South-East.”

This was as he warned those engaged in car hire services to be more circumspect, saying there was a gang that specialises in moving from state to state, to rent cars.

According to him, once they succeed, they kill the drivers on their way, and criminally convert the cars to their use.

One of the suspects, who corroborated the Police’s position, confessed to have made about N5 million from ransom paid by kidnap victims.

Meanwhile, the only suspect who appeared in military fatigue, one Sani Haruna, admitted to being the one who took charge of kidnap victims, by ensuring maximum security cover over them, until ransom was paid.

In cold manner, Haruna said he did not waste time in killing victims, once negotiation on payment of ransom, failed.

Asked to disclose how many victims he had killed, he said he had lost count.

A box of ammunition (750 in each), it was revealed during the interaction, cost about N300,000.