Police Arrests Suspected Armed Robbers In Akwa Ibom

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Men of the Akwa Ibom State Command have arrested two suspected armed robbers and recovered locally-made firearms in the process.

The suspects, Ita Bassey and Kufre Eyo, were apprehended by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad following a tip-off.

The State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Murtala Mani, stated on Friday that some of the bandits were still at large, adding that the police were on the trail of the remaining suspects.

Mani, who was represented by the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Cordelia Nwawe, an assistant superintendent of police, revealed that when the two suspected armed robbers were arrested, the police went to their residences and conducted a search.

He noted that it was at that point that the locally-made firearms were found and recovered.

“On October 22, 2015, the very able SARS team of Akwa Ibom State Police Command tracked down two suspected armed robbers. They are Ita Bassey and Kufre Eyo. The police recovered locally-made guns from them.

“Some are still at large; we will not mention their names, but there is no hiding place for criminals here in Akwa Ibom State. The residences of these suspected armed robbers were searched and the firearms were found,” Mani said.

The commissioner said no individual had the right to be in possession of firearms.

He, however, urged members of the public to make necessary report on any suspected movement around them, adding that such gesture would contribute to the safety of citizens.

Speaking with one of the suspects, Bassey, a native of Ndak Etoi, Uyo Local Government Area, told journalists that he was not an armed robber, but a cultist.

He corroborated the police report by saying that a search was conducted in his residence and that the police discovered locally-made firearms.

He said, “I am a cultist. The police brought me here with one of my friends and took me to my house to search and they discovered locally-made firearms.

“I am not the owner of the guns. It was my big man, who is a cultist, that gave me the guns and that is what I told the police. I have never robbed before. My friend made me join cultism but he did not tell me that it was going to be like this.”