Kwara Police Bust Suspected Bandits Logistics Network in Ilorin Operation

(police command. Photo by Premuim Times)

Operatives of the Kwara State police command have dismantled a suspected b@ndits logistics network, with a key suspect arrested during a major operation by the command’s violent crime response unit.

The suspect was arrested in Ilorin, the state capital, according to the Police Public Relations Officer of the command, SP Adetoun Ejire Adeyemi, who made the announcement on Thursday.

She said that acting on credible intelligence and sustained covert surveillance, operatives of the unit apprehended a suspect in Ilorin whose activities were strongly linked to the movement and supply of materials believed to be destined for criminal elements operating within forested areas and remote locations across the state.

Items recovered during the investigation included a large quantity of assorted cigarette brands and other provisions, which were believed to form part of a logistics chain servicing criminal groups.

Preliminary investigation indicates that the suspect played a strategic support role within a wider network responsible for providing food and other forms of assistance to b@ndits and associated criminal elements.

During the investigation, photographs found on the suspect’s phone showed him dressed in military camouflage and sitting on a Bajaj motorcycle, further reinforcing intelligence regarding his suspected links to criminal groups. Efforts are ongoing to trace and apprehend other individuals connected to the network.

The State Commissioner of Police, Adekimi Ojo, reassured residents that ongoing security operations across the state are increasingly focused on targeting not only armed criminals but also the logistical networks, collaborators, informants and suppliers that enable their activities.

He pledged that the command remains committed to cutting off the resources, freedom of movement and support systems that criminal groups rely on to operate, while maintaining pressure on all those involved in supporting criminality in any capacity.