Police arrest 21 suspected criminals in renewed raid on Delta brothels

No fewer than 21 suspected criminals were in the early hours of Friday arrested by a team of police detectives at the Delta State Police Command, Asaba, in a renewed raid on brothels and hotels across the state, following the increasing cases of ritual killings in the state.

The Commissioner of Police in Delta State, Mustafa Muhammad, who confirmed the arrest of the suspects, said the renewed raid was informed by the increasing rate of ritual killings as well as armed robbery operations across the state, especially as the crimes are often being executed in hotels, guest houses and brothels.

Muhammad, who spoke to journalists in Asaba, said, “Many of the ‘Yahoo, Yahoo boys’ we have arrested, were picked in either in the brothels, hotels, and guest houses and in the recent times, there have been reported cases of ritual killings we are currently investigating.

“While over ten suspected cultists and armed robbery suspects have been arraigned in court in order to reduce the incidences, our officers and men were given matching orders to raid all the hotels, brothels and guest houses.”

He added that the arrested suspects will be charged to court upon completion of investigation.

The police detectives were said to have raided brothels in Okpanam, Ibusa Asaba Nnebisi road and summit roads, which it was gathered, are often beehive of activities of alleged Yahoo, Yahoo boys and armed robbers, including prostitutes who hide under prostitution to rob their unsuspecting customers.

It was further gathered that for close to two months, residents across the state have been living in palpable fear of the unknown particularly with the increasing cases of ritual killings and armed robbery cases in the state.

Speaking further, the police commissioner said, “through our intelligence gathering, we observed female cleaners reported their bitter experiences to the proprietors of their hotels, as in most cases guests allegedly kill their victims in their hotel rooms and dumped their corpses on the floor, some of the hotels’ proprietors have been arrested and granted bail. We are investigating many cases and very soon we will bring many of the criminals to book”.

He further stated that 10 female prostitutes were arrested during the raid for allegedly aiding criminals in their brothels, adding that, “the suspects upon interrogation, have made useful statements to the police. Investigation is ongoing and on completion of investigation, the suspects will be charged to court”.

The commissioner of police then called on the people of Delta to always provide useful information to the police with a view to arresting criminals troubling the state.