The police authorities in Nasarawa have paraded 17 suspected political thugs for various offences in the recently concluded elections in the state.
Parading the suspects at the Police Headquarters in Lafia on Sunday, the Public Relations Officer in the state, Ramhan Nansel, said they were arrested with arms and ammunition.
He said some of the suspects were imported from Imo and the neighbouring Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with the aim of disrupting the recent elections in the state.
According to him, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Maiyaki Muhammed Baba, had raised an alarm over moves by certain political elements in the state to import thugs with the intent of causing a breach of peace during the presidential and National Assembly elections.
Nansel, a Deputy Superintendent of Police said despite the warning, some criminal elements tried to infiltrate the state through its borders.
He said a Toyota pickup vehicle and a Toyota Siena SUV loaded with suspected political thugs were intercepted by the military in Umaisha, Toto local government area of the state on the eve of the March 18 election.
“A thorough search was conducted on them where two English pump action guns, Nine locally fabricated guns, 20 live cartridges, 24 handsets of different brands, two unregistered vehicles, fifteen pairs of desert booths, a bag containing Belt, Bullet proof jackets etc,” Nansel stated
The police spokesman identified the suspects as Aaron Samson, Tijani Jemba, Abdulahi Salihu, Usman Abubakar, Abdulahi Usman, Mohammed Abdulahi, Babangida Mohammed Kasimu A. Danladi, Saidu A. Suleiman, Salihu Abdulkareem, Shamsudeen Abubakar, Usman Murtala, Mohammed Sule, Huseini Elhag, James Emeka, Idris Abdullazeez and Ibrahim Alhassan.
Nansel added that the suspects would be charged in court on completion of the investigation by the Command’s Criminal Investigation Department.