The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Irene Ugbo, who confirmed the development on Tuesday said that the criminals were killed during a gun duel with a police team.
The Nigeria Police Force, Cross River Command, has said that its operatives on Monday killed six suspected gunmen who kidnapped a student of a private university, Arthur Jarvis University, last Tuesday in the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Irene Ugbo, who confirmed the development on Tuesday said that the criminals were killed during a gun duel with a police team.
The police spokesperson said that the police team was relentless soon after the incident, and had to unleash its dragnets throughout the surrounding forests where the victim was suspected to have been dragged into on the night of her abduction from the university.
“The six suspects were killed during a shootout with the crack team that “smoked them out.”
“Remember we warned earlier that any criminal in the state should leave Cross River. We have moved to the next stage. We are going after the criminals very hard this time, even in their hideouts. No more warning, enough is enough.
“We want to assure law abiding citizens to go about their lawful activities. We urge them to always share information with us because security is everybody’s business,” she said.
Commenting on the police’s successful operation, the founder and chancellor of the university, Arthur Jarvis Archibong, extolled the cooperation and efforts of the security agencies, particularly the police for their professionalism in rescuing the abducted student.
Archibong noted that the security forces were tireless and committed during the rescue exercise, which led to the neutralization of the suspects.
He however debunked the speculation that the school was forced to close as a result of the terrorists invasion and abduction of the student.
He said, “We were billed to close by Friday last week, before the incident happened. So the news making the rounds that we closed indefinitely is absolutely false.
“We want to assure every parent and ward that the safety and welfare of their children, our students are keys.”
The chancellor therefore assured that the school had taken measures to forestall further occurrence of such security breach in the institution.