SHOCKING:11 Armed Robbers Aged Between 12 – 14 Years, Caught in Ibadan...SEE PHOTO

Firstclass newsline learnt that Oyo State Police Command is to
rehabilitate the 11 kid robbers arrested in Ibadan, the state capital,
on June 15, the Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Katsina, said on
Thursday.
Katsina, who disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan, added that the arrest of the kid robbers was
part of initiatives by the command to ensure a crime-free environment
in the state.
Katsina stated that some of the kid robbers, aged between 12 and 14,
conspired and invaded a house around the Challenge Area of Ibadan,
where they stole the sum of N11,000.
"Based on information, the Anti-Robbery Squad of the command was sent
out immediately and they were surprised to see kids of 12 and 14 years
of age coming out to make confessional statements," he said.
Katsina, who also expressed pity on the plight of the kids, explained
that they voluntarily narrated to the police details about their
activities.
He lamented that the involvement of the kids in robbery activities
could be attributed to lack of parental care and poverty.
"Most of these children are from broken homes and I wish parents can
learn from the plight of these kids and take proper care of their
children.
"One thing that keeps disturbing me is the voluntary narration and
sincerity of the kids. They have no shelter of any sort and to them,
their future starts and ends on the bridge.
"Their only means of livelihood is to savage innocent members of the
public, be involved in pick pocketing, robbery and related criminal
activities," he said.
Katsina noted that 90 per cent of the kids arrested were not residents
or indigenes of Oyo State.
"Some of them are from Benin Republic in search of greener pastures in
Nigeria, in a negative way," he said.
The police boss disclosed that one of the 11 kid robbers, a
12-year-old boy, was apprehended in Ogbomoso in a robbery-related
conduct.
"In the course of the arrest, he led us to six other members of his
group, where four of them were minors and the two others adults.
"The boy is from Kwara State, as we got to know from his confession.
He confessed that his father was living happily with his mother until
he married a second wife.
"As a result of that, there was a problem and the mother moved out
with the kid robber and relocated to Ogbomoso," he said.
Katsina, however, added that the command was currently taking care of
the 11 arrested minors.
He also said that Governor Abiola Ajimobi had promised to assist in
the rehabilitation and provision of adequate care for the kids.
"When I spoke with him, he said that there were rehabilitation centres
in Ibadan, where the kids would be provided with basic care amenities.
The governor also said that the state government would assist to
provide job opportunities for unemployed youths in the state at the
newly-inaugurated Waste-to-Energy projects."
The Oyo police boss, however, called on parents and the governments of
the neighbouring countries to monitor the activities of their children
and wards, while admonishing Nigerians and philanthropists to assist
them
Firstclassnewsline.net