Fifteen young men associated with a youth gang locally called Shila Boys, have been arrested for allegedly robbing residents of the Adamawa State capital, Yola.
The state Police Command said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon that in its fight against Shila gangsterism, its operatives arrested the suspects earlier in the day.
“In the early hours of today, Wednesday 13th March 2024, Police at Jimeta Division, Yola North LGA, Adamawa State, while on patrol with Vigilante men along Rumde engaged radical SHILLA gangs operating with sharp daggers and knives robbing innocent people of their belongings,” the statement explained.
Signed by police image maker, Suleiman Nguroje, the statement said the 15 suspects were arrested with weapons that include four sharp daggers and three knives.
According to the statement, two handsets, a cash sum of N19, 000; and some quantities of hard drugs, among other things, were recovered from the suspects.
The statement gave the names of the suspects, whose ages range from 13 to 20, as Adamu Abdullahi, Hassan Mohammed, Abdullahi Yusuf, Abdulrazak Abubakar, Ibrahim Umar, and Mohammed Zakaria.
The rest are Mohammed Auwal, Kabiru Abdullahi, Auwal Adamu, Aminu Adamu, Abdulrahman Umar, Amir Mohammed, Anas Rufai, Usman Tijjani, and Mohammed Abubakar.
The police assured that the suspects would be diligently prosecuted upon completion of investigations.