Over 200 scavengers have been arrested in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the last two months, Commissioner of Police in charge of the Command, Haruna Garba, has disclosed,Daily trust report.
Speaking when he played host to Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 7, Adebowale Williams, Garba said those arrested were destroying the critical assets in the FCT.
He said, “Inthe last two months, the Command has clamped down on activities of the scavengers otherwise known as ‘Babanbolas’ whose habit is to destroy the critical infrastructures in the FCT.
“Their activities have become a source of concern and threat to the residents of the FCT. They have been involved in theft and destruction of critical infrastructures in the FCT. In the last two months, 212 scavengers have been arrested and arraigned in Court.”
Earlier, Williams said the current security challenges in the country were a bit difficult to end because non-state actors like bandits, insurgents, kidnappers, armed robbers and other criminals were involved in “guerrilla warfare”.
He, however, said no matter how hard they try to perpetuate criminalities in the nooks and cranny of the country and continue the non-conventional warfare against the nation, they will be smoked out and smashed in no distant time.
“The duty of police is to prevent crime. However, where crime occurs it is our duty to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators. The question is how successful are we? Modern day policing in a democratic setting like ours cannot be without its own share of challenges.
“The current challenges are from the activities of non-state actors, bandits and insurgents, kidnappers and armed robbers. Evolution in technology has its own share of consequences.
“The modus operandi of these non-state actors which is mostly non-conventional (guerrilla warfare) makes it somewhat difficult to end the menace quickly. But one thing is certain, criminals have no hiding place, they will all be smoked out and smashed in no distant time,” Williams said.
According to him, there is a need to take advantage of the Police Technical Intelligence Unit (TIU), Crime Database Unit, NPF National Cybercrime Section and the NPF Interpol among others to enhance our proactive policing, saying it is time to improve on visibility policing.
