- 122 armed robbery cases in 8 months
- We may end up having more criminals – PCRC
Crime in Imo State appears to be on the rise with incidents such as armed robbery, kidnapping, armed attacks and cultism widely reported across the state between April and December 2017.
The police said crime statistics indicated that the state recorded a 25 per cent reduction in 2017, when compared with the 2016 statistics.
However, investigation revealed that more people were involved in crime related cases between April 2017 and December 2017, particularly suspects arrested for armed robbery cases, which rose to 122 in eight months as against 60 in 2016.
Also, reports of bank robberies became a major concern for both bank workers and customers alike last year.
On February 22, 2017, five people, including two policemen, were killed when 10 robbers attacked the bank, a robbery incident described as the bloodiest in the history of the state.
In two of the bank attacks last year, it was learnt that the robbers tracked bank customers, who withdrew cash, trailing them and robbing them as they departed.
A bank manager, who pleaded not to be identified, told our correspondent that most times the robbers posed as bank customers, looking out for customers withdrawing large amounts of cash and “Once their target is spotted, they contact their colleagues outside the bank with a description of their target.”
Investigations also showed that 96 kidnapping cases were recorded in the year under review with some high profile cases, one of which involved a Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Cyriacus Onunkwo, who was abducted and killed in cold blood on September 1, 2017.
Last year recorded the worst crime wave as there was everyday news of robbery attacks and kidnappings emanating daily and almost unabated. It was the period Imo State recorded the arrest of the youngest armed robbery suspect in the world. According to investigations, the 8-year-old boy from Mbaitoli began operating weapons at the age of five as he robbed in the town and villages and then retreated into his hideout in the bush.
It was learnt that socio-economic conditions in the country, a factor said to be responsible for the crime wave, had remained dire, as criminal elements in the state are taking advantage of the harsh economic situation to attack individuals and corporate organisations.
According to a security expert, Sunday Okoli, “It is likely that such criminal behaviour will persist with the declining economy and growing unemployment rate. More so, these days, the state government had embarked on its urban renewal development project, which had displaced thousands of traders while a good number of them whose shops were destroyed in the process were said to have taken loans from the banks, which they are yet to repay.”
Okoli noted that there was no indication that the situation would change in the short term, “but it is assessed that large presence of security forces will likely reduce the risk posed by criminal elements.”
The Chairman of the Police Community Relations Committee, Mr. Chima Chukwunyere, raised the alarm on the issue of rising rate of cultism in secondary schools, saying that if nothing was done urgently, Nigeria might end up having more criminals in the society.
“If the situation is not checked urgently, if our population is one million, 700 may end up being criminals. We are in a society that there is no more moral values, initiations are still going on in various forests in Imo State,” he warned.
He, however, commended the current police commissioner for his fight against crime in the state, adding that the police under him had been “highly operational.”
“I would not blame the police. Crime fighting is a collective issue, we know the criminals because they live among us. So, we must be whistle blowers to assist the police in the fight,” he stated.
Despite these incidents recorded, the police said that plans were on to increase policing of major institutions and highways this year to curtail attacks by the criminals in these areas.
The state Police Commissioner, Chris Ezike, said that the strategic focus in 2018 would be to continue robust provision of security to banks and financial institutions in order to prevent attacks by hoodlums.
Although within the first two months of 2018, high profile arrests were made and exhibits recovered, the police boss said his command would sustain increased police visibility on the highways and the neighbourhood.
According to him, the police would continue with the arrest of high profile suspects/other suspects of value and recover their offensive weapons, as well as sustain police/community partnership that will enhance better synergy for crime control/management.
He disclosed that 96 persons who were involved in kidnapping were arrested while 19 people were rescued unhurt in the police operations.
The police boss also said 122 armed robbery suspects were arrested while 96 cultism/cult violence were recorded, adding that 29 people involved in child trafficking were arrested while nine babies were
recovered.
He said that different fire arms and ammunition, including 11 AK47 assault rifles, 15 English pistols, 17 pump action guns, 65 locally made guns, 3050 catchment ammunition round and 32 vehicles were recovered in these robbery cases in the period under review.
