BY MIKE OSAROGIAGBON
Members of a criminal gang, led by one Osasu Osadolor, alleged to have gruesomely murdered and buried Barr Osobase Omo-Iyoha in a shallow grave, were among 56 criminal suspects paraded by newly redeployed commissioner of Police CP Johnson Babatunde Kokumo in Benin on Monday.
Also paraded was a Libya returnee, one Olowode Sunday, 47 alleged to be a leader of a gang which specializes in trailing and robbing bank customers of their large cash withdrawals.
CP Johnson Kokumo paraded the suspected criminals whom he said were nabbed within the last six days of his assumption of duty in Edo State at a press conference at the command’s headquarters in Benin, a feat not surprising to those who are familiar with his style of operation.
The suspects were said to have been involved in kidnapping, murder and cultism as high calibre of arms and ammunition, as well as vehicles were recovered from them.
According to the commissioner, the suspects were arrested at different locations across the state during discreet and coordinated operations of the command and that the suspects confessed to the crimes.
Some persons with varying degrees of wounds identified by CP Kokumo as rescued victims of the suspects narrated their ordeals to journalists at the police command headquarters.
Kokumo had during the press briefing warned criminals that hard times await them and their allies in Edo, pledging to sustain and improve on the achievements of his predecessor, with a promise to police Edo State with integrity as community participation in policing of the state, would be encouraged.
“We will encourage community participation in policing in Edo State.
“This of course will be in total agreement with the current policing strategy of the Inspector-General of the Police, IGP Mohammed Abubakar Adamu,” CP Kokumo noted.
It would be recalled that CP Johnson Kokumo, an awaiting Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), assumed duty in Edo State last Tuesday, the second time having served as COMPOL in the heartbeat of the nation, between October 23, 2017 and January 2, 2019.
