Mr Tunde Ogunsakin, former Commissioner of Police, Special Fraud Unit (SFU) in Lagos, said the unit, under his stewardship, recovered N6.45 billion from fraud-related cases in two years.
Ogunsakin, who was deployed to Rivers in February, 2014 as commissioner, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos.
He said that the Naira component of the recovered money was N6.3 billion while 931,069 dollars (about N152.69 million) was recovered.
Ogunsakin said that during the period spanning March, 2012 to February 14, 2014, the unit handled a total of 1,142 fraud cases.
“We had about 600 cases undergoing prosecution during the period,” he said, adding that the unit recorded nine judgement, including four convictions and recovered more than 13 vehicles.
Ogunsakin said many arms and ammunition had been recovered from hoodlums in the state since he resumed duty in February.
He described the quantity of recovered arms as “mind blowing”, adding that kidnapping, armed robbery and cultism were the major crimes in the state.
He said various arms and ammunition were being recovered on a daily bases, adding that AK-47 Riffles topped the list of the recovered arms.
The police boss said that many suspected kidnappers, armed robbers, and a suspected arms supplier to Boko Haram, had been arrested.
Ogunsakin said that the command had achieved the feat with the assistance of other security agency, particularly the Nigerian Navy.
He said that some of the arms were smuggled into the state through the water ways but assured that with strict policing of the water ways by the navy, illegal arms movement would be checked.
He also assured that the command would put an end to kidnapping, which had become a major challenge in the state.
“When I discovered that kidnapping was the main crime, I studied the operation of the kidnappers, the time and how they carry out their crime.
“I deployed officers and men accordingly and we carried out stop and search operation in all routes. The number of arms recovered within two weeks was mind-blowing and people were also arrested.
“One of the suspects arrested was caught with explosives that can bring down many buildings same time, and he confessed that he supplies arms to Boko Haram in Yobe.
“We are still investigating him. “We need more equipment to police the water areas and other black spots in the state.’’
On the House of Assembly crisis, the police commissioner said that the complex was still under lock, adding that that the issue was a legal one. (NAN)
