The Adamawa State Police Command on Tuesday arrested five armed robbers who have allegedly been terrorizing the Numan-Savannah-Lafia portion of the Yola-Gombe Highway.
The five comprise four men and one woman.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the state, Sulaiman Nguroje, who disclosed the arrest to our correspondent, said 22 handsets and N52, 280 cash were recovered from the suspects.
The PPRO explained, “Through intelligence report received, the police were able to lay hands on these people who have been constantly robbing travellers, especially at night along Numan-Savannah-Lafia road.
“They confessed to have robbed these handsets and money from travellers in the course of their operations on the road.”
Numan is a gateway town some 70 kilometres from the Adamawa State capital, Yola, whike Savannah lies within the Numan LGA, and is so called because of the Savannah Sugar Company located on the swampy terrain between the Numan town and Lafia, a smaller Adamawa township near the border with Gombe State.
The Numan-Savannah-Lafia road is a short stretch of the Yola-Gombe Highway hated by travellers because of its dilapidated nature, especially the Savannah portion.
The PPRO, who said the five suspects were apprehended in the early hours of October 26, gave their names as Shuaibu Suleiman, Adamu Abdul, Buba Umar, Ali Ibrahim, and Adama Umar.
He said the 22 phones and N52, 280 cash were recovered from the suspects in the course of investigation, and asked travellers who lost their phones to armed robbers on the identified road to visit the police headquarters in Yola to identify and claim them.
He said the police also recovered six cutlasses, three knives and some black wears and masks from the suspects, and appealed for yet more information from the public to help the police with necessary leads for further arrests.
“The Commissioner of Police, Audu Madaki, has deployed additional men and officers to beef up the anti-robbery squad to apprehend more of the robbers on the run and recover their weapons,” he said.