The Benue State Police Command on Wednesday rewarded seven officers with awards of excellence.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Audu Madaki, said that he gave the award on behalf of the Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Mr Usman Baba.

The awardees include CSP Justin Gberindyer, SP Ojekunle Nurudeen, and SP Danjuma Ibrahim.

The others are DSP Tersoo Ugbe, DSP Sewuese Anene, DSP Benjamin Achimugu and ASP Danlamin Usman.

The commissioner of police said that the officers distinguished themselves professionally and had to be encouraged.

“They should be rewarded by giving them incentives to encourage them to do more.

“It is on this note that they have been singled out for the awards,” he said.

Responding on behalf of the awardees, Anene, who is the state Police Public Relations Officer, thanked the I-G and the commissioner of police for finding them worthy of the awards.

“The awards will spur us to do more in the aspect of crime prevention and control,” she said.h

During an interaction with newsmen, the commissioner of police said that from  Feb. 22 till date, the command charged 205 cases to court.

He said: “120 of the cases are from divisional offices and area commands while 85 are from the criminal investigation bureau.

“Also, 131 suspects are awaiting trial in prison custody because they committed crimes ranging from armed robbery to cultism.

“Arrest cannot be made without recovery of arms. As such, 32 arms were recovered: six AK47, one G3, three double-barrel guns, and 22 locally-made pistols.

“The locally-made pistols are much because blacksmiths are helping them to fabricate the guns.”

He said that 726 rounds of ammunition were also recovered with 27 live cartridges, adding that the command had been proactive in tackling criminality.

“We are enforcing the laws of both the federation and the state,” he said.

NAN