Some guns and ammunition, swords, knives, axes, daggers, motorcycles, and several mobile phones, were recovered during the operation.
The FCT Commissioner of Police, Bennett Igweh, disclosed this on Monday, during a parade of the suspects at the Intelligence Response Team unit (former Special Anti-Robbery Squad), Guzape, Abuja.
He noted that police operatives at about 11:30 pm on Sunday, acting on credible intelligence that bandits, kidnappers, and armed robbers usually return to the “Game House” to relax and entertain themselves, arrested the 311 suspects within 20 minutes of storming the area.
Igwe said, “When you hear something, say something. We had credible information that some bandits and kidnappers usually return to a place called ‘Game House’ in Gidan Dambe in Dei Dei, after returning from their criminal operations. They usually go back there to relax and entertain themselves at the game house.
“Our newly launched operation Velvet raided the marked black spot and arrested 297 males and 14 females within 20 minutes of storming the area.
“During the search, one English Pistol with 15 rounds of 9mm ammunition was recovered from one Ibrahim Tukur who claimed to be a DSS personnel.
“Other exhibits such as motorcycles, wraps of marijuana, illicit substances and valuables reasonably suspected to have been stolen from innocent residents were equally recovered. Meanwhile, all the suspects are still undergoing screening.”
The FCT has been experiencing a surge in kidnapping and bandit attacks in recent times.
In January 2024, operatives of the Special Intervention Squad, Federal Capital Territory Police Command, neutralised three notorious bandits in a forest within the Bwari area of Abuja.
Within the same month, a kidnap kingpin identified as Janari, who was said to have masterminded several kidnappings within Kaduna State and Abuja, alongside some of his foot soldiers were killed during operations conducted by the air component of Operation Whirl Punch in Kaduna state.
