As part of the efforts to rid Ekiti State of criminals as the July 14 governorship poll draws near, the state police command has arrested 12 crime suspects and recovered about 15 local and assorted rifles from them.
The State Commissioner of Police, Mr Abdullahi Chafe, said the efforts were part of the ways to stop the proliferation of arms in line with the directive of the Inspector General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris that all the 37 commands should commence arms mop up in their respective states.
The police boss warned his men against partisanship in the coming governorship election, saying any police found taking a side in the electoral battle will be dealt with.
The CP also advised politicians against gun running or breeding of thugs to disrupt the peace of the state under the guise of the election.
He threatened that any politician caught in such act will be sued in line with the relevant laws.
Chafe spoke on Thursday while parading some suspects at the state police headquarters in Ado Ekiti.
One Ojo Tosin, Patrick Charles and Omoleewo blessing were paraded for stealing and shop breaking while Ajayi Kehinde, Obafemi Oke, Ahmed Yunusa, Daniel Oluwafemi was arrested for alleged robbery and cultism.
In the same vein, Seun Ajetomobi and Kolawole Julius were arrested for an alleged case of burglary and stealing.
Recovered from them, according to the CP were: two assorted Rifles, Pump Action Guns, Pistols, Dane guns, Charms, stolen property, axe, among others.
Chafe said the police are desirous of ridding the state of illegal arms, saying the command will work with other sister agencies to achieve the onerous task.
“We want people to give us the usual cooperation as we enter into a critical period, I mean election time. By April, electioneering process will begin to hot up and political party will commence campaigns and it will be dangerous to allow people to carry arms illegally.
“We enjoin associations, NGOs, judiciary and other stakeholders to give helping hands. I have told my men that they should be fair to all parties in this election time, they must not be partisan. They should be seen to be fair.
“As part of our responsibilities, we are determined to rid the state of criminals”, he said.
Parading the suspects, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr Julius Okoro, said cases of shop breaking were becoming recurrent issues in recent time, urging the public to take caution.
“The arms mop up operation has just begun. We are stepping up efforts across the 16 local governments in Ekiti, so our people [the resident of Osun] must be careful and help us with relevant information,” he appealed.
