The Police in Anambara State has announced the arrest of two for suspected kidnap offences with other members of an armed robbery gang who has terrorised the Uga, Ekwulobia, Umuchu, Nkpologu, Ezinifite, Aguata communities and neighbouring villages.
The arrest was made public by the state police spokesman, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, in a press statement made available in the state capital on Thursday. The PPRO noted a combined team of military, civil defence, and other security forces had embarked on the operation.
The arrested suspects, according to the police, are members of a dangerous group in the state who specialise in kidnapping, car snatching and armed robbery operations in most of the remote communities in the state.
The arrest was made on Thursday; the operation, according to him, was a follow-up of an investigation of a kidnap incident which took place in the Aguata community and was reported in 2023 to the police.
The PPRo explained that the two suspects, whose names were not disclosed, were arrested, with one having bullet wounds on the leg while the other person presented himself as a fake pastor who was preparing charms for other members of the gang.
He disclosed the police acted on credible information given by the community members in the afternoon of Thursday. Ikenga, the PPRO, disclosed that after the arrest of the suspects, they confessed to commiton the crime and are already assisting the police with credible information, which will lead to the arrest of the other gang members.
Ikenga had also disclosed that the suspects have provide relevant information to the police on the location of shrine used by the group and some vehicles that have been taken by the suspects from residents in the state.
The statement noted that the commissioner of police, CP Nnaghe Itam, had assured the residents of Anambra State that the police would work around the clock to ensure that all cases reported to the command were attended to promptly. He noted that the highest cases to consider include kidnap, armed robbery and otherwise
