Police arrest 244 suspected robbers in Lagos in 2012 so far

Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Umar Manko, on Sunday said 244 suspected robbers were arrested by the police in the first half of the year.

Manko told the News Agency of Nigeria that the arrest of the ring leaders of the various robbery gangs in the state remained one of the biggest achievements of the command during the period under review.

He said 160 guns and 948 rounds of ammunition were recovered from the suspected armed robbers who had been terrorising the state.

The police chief said out of the 54 robbery recorded during the period, 59 suspected armed robbers were shot dead while five policemen lost their lives in the various encounters with the bandits.

Manko added that 239 vehicles were snatched at gunpoints, 227 vehicles removed from where they were parked while eight vehicles were driven away by drivers during the period.

According to him, 367 of the stolen vehicles were recovered by the command between January and June, 2012.

He also said 133 murder cases were recorded in the state in the first six months of the year.

He attributed the decline in robbery to the recent ban on commercial motorcycles operations in some parts of the state.

The Police commissioner urged car owners to instal electronic trackers in their vehicles, saying the device would not only discourage car theft but help in the quick recovery of the vehicle.

PunchNG