The police in Rivers State, on Saturday, arrested 10 persons during a raid on the hideouts and camps of suspected kidnappers in adjoining bush along the Obiri-Ikwerre International Airport road, Port Harcourt.
The crackdown was led the Commissioner of Police, CP Tunji Disu.
He was accompanied by the Deputy Commissioner of Police Operations, DCP Adepoju Olugbenga, some Area Commanders, heads of tactical units, Divisional Police Officers and other operatives of the command during the raid necessitated by the recent kidnapping incidents in the axis.
The police team combed the vast bush behind the Adokiye-Amiesimaka Stadium at Igwuruta, Ikwerre Local Government Area where kidnappers terrorizing commuters along the ObiriIkwerre – Airport were suspected to be hibernating.
During the raid, 10 suspects were arrested and more than 12 makeshift tents in camps abandoned by suspected kidnappers were also destroyed.
DCP Adepoju Olugbenga said the operation was a routine exercise usually carried out by the police on vulnerable points where there are issues of hoodlums trying to disturb the peace.
He said it was observed that there are issues of hoodlums trying to ambush people going to and coming from the Airport in the axis.
The DC Operation also revealed that the Command has deployed a lot of personnel in that axis.
He explained that during the CP Disu-led operation, operatives were deployed to comb every angle of the bush behind the Adokiye-Amasemaka stadium, abandoned buildings, and buildings under construction in the area where, according to him, criminals come out to cause havoc along Obiri-Ikwerre -Airport road.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police also disclosed that some abandoned shanties by suspected kidnappers were also destroyed.
“There is special concentration on the airport axis because of its importance to the state and the Police cannot allow criminal activities to thrive there or any other part of the state,” DCP Olugbenga noted.
He assured that the Rivers State Police Command will continue to comb the area and other places where criminals are suspected to be hibernating, to ensure that residents of the State can sleep with their two eyes closed.
He equally called on the public to assist the Police with useful information that can lead to the identification and dislodging of criminal hideouts.