AS PART of the campaign to rid the state of criminals, especially kidnappers, Abia state police command Tuesday announced that it killed three suspected armed robbers in Aba area.

In addition, the command said that it has within the last three months, arrested a total of 27 suspected kidnappers and armed robbers.

The suspects were arrested in different parts of the state, but mainly in Aba area, where kidnappers and armed robbers laid siege for sometime before the military Joint Task Force was deployed there to flush them out.

The arrival of the military task force boosted the state police command, leading them to make appreciable success in the fight against criminals in the state, especially Aba, the commercial capital of the state.

Announcing the arrest, the state Commissioner of police, Mr. Jonathan Johnson,  said that the command also within the period arrested five suspected persons for murder and attempted murder cases, while another suspect was arrested for store-breaking.

Johnson further announced that the command, during the period, also arrested three suspected pipeline vandals and three suspected drug peddlers.

The police commissioner said his men recovered from the suspects 21 various arms and about 1500 ammunitions.

Johnson expressed joy that sanity had returned to the state after it was literally held hostage by criminals and urged the residents of Aba who fled at the peak of the insecurity to return and resume their normal activities.

“Aba which occupants fled due to high rate of kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes is returning to its lost glory.  The Command is using this medium to to assure residents of Abia State and its environs that they should feel free to carry out their normal businesses and enjoy a crime free celebration of Yuletide,” Johnson noted.