Troops of Operation Safe Haven have apprehended a man identified as Yakubu Shanano for reportedly murdering a mobile police officer in Plateau State.
It was learned that a mobile police officer linked to the military task force in charge of preserving peace was slain in the state’s Bokkos Local Government Area.
Captain Oya James, spokesperson for the Military Taskforce, confirmed Shanano’s detention in a statement on Tuesday, saying he was detained alongside 14 other suspects for different criminal acts, including kidnapping and drug selling.
The statement said, “Troops of Operation Safe Haven on Operation Hakorin Damisa IV from November 6 to 13, 2023, arrested 15 suspects in connection with kidnapping, murder, arms dealing, criminal attacks, cattle rustling, drug peddling, farm destruction, as well as recovered arms, ammunition, and illicit drugs.
“On November 6, 2023, troops arrested Jerome Bulus Alamba and Denis Yohanna at Fang village in Riyom LGA of Plateau in connection with the murder of one Abdulkarim Saidu on October 24, 2023.
“In a similar incident, on November 7, 2023, troops of Sector 5 OPSH arrested one Alhaji Yakubu Shanono in Bokkos community, Bokkos LGA of Plateau State, in connection with the killing of a Mobile Police personnel attached to OPSH. On the same day, troops apprehended 75 cows for farm destruction at Kassa village in Barkin Ladi LGA of Plateau State.”
It was further stated that troops, in collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Pankshin Command, launched raid operations on the hideaway of illegal drug peddlers in Bargar village in Kanam LGA of Plateau State on November 8.
The military apprehended four individuals and turned them over to the NDLEA for further investigation.
The statement, which added that numerous other arrests were made across the state, reaffirmed Operation Safe Haven’s commitment to the protection of law-abiding individuals in Plateau, Southern Kaduna, and Bauchi states by all legal means.
It thanked the public for their continuing support for the military and promised them that all apprehended individuals in custody would be prosecuted in court once investigations were completed.