The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has gone all out to curtail the menace of political thugs in Akwa Ibom State as officers of the Akwa Ibom state command arrested no fewer than 400 suspected thugs, alleged to be working for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
The suspects were arrested in their hideout in Ewet Housing Estate, Friday morning, in Uyo, the state capital. Recovered from the thugs were guns and ammunition.
Some of the millitants were arrested in a bus with inscription ‘Divine Mandate’ belonging to Akwa Ibom State goverment
Speaking with reporters in Uyo, Police Inspector, Jeremiah Dogo, said the “arrest was made possible by the deployment of extra policemen to the state by the IGP.”
Inspector Dogo said confessional statements obtained from the thugs indicated that they were brought in from Bayelsa and Rivers states by PDP chieftains to help rig the general elections.The suspects are mostly indigenes of the two states.
It was gathered that the hideout where the thugs were nabbed is believed to be owned by a PDP chieftain in the state.
The state police command said intelligence reports revealed various hideouts of the thugs and cultists that have come into the state in the last few days, obviously for the election.
The State Commissioner of Police, Bashir Makama, who confirmed the arrests, said the police was still investigating the matter.
Makama said the police acted on intelligence report, hence carried out raids on suspected black spots in Uyo and its environs to forestall any breakdown of law and order during election.
The Commissioner of Police, who was silent on the number of suspects arrested in the sting operation, said he was not aware of any vehicle caught with money in it.
“We will make life unbearable for them,” a source in the state police command said.
Reacting to the arrest, the APC in the state said it was a welcome development.
In a statement, APC said the arrest has given vent to the alleged statement by the Director-General of the state governor’s campaign council, Air Commodore Idongesit Nkanga (rtd), that Governor Udom Emmanuel should prepare for war if he wanted to win the upcoming election.
The party pointed to an earlier statements of the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Onofiok Luke and Senator Bassey Albert, a few months ago that they would do everything possible to ensure the victory of the PDP in the general elections.
However, the Publicity Secretary of the PDP in the state, Comrade Iniobong Ememobong, said he was not aware of the arrest of any group of persons said to be working for the party.
