24 individuals have been paraded by the Ebonyi State Police Command over alleged kidnappings, assaults on police stations, and murders of police officers.
Faleye Olaleye, the commissioner of police, gave a press conference on Friday at the command’s headquarters in Abakaliki, the state capital of Ebonyi, and explained that the arrest of the suspects was made possible through intelligence-driven and community-based policing in the state.
According to him, the Mpu-Ishiagu expressway was the scene of the recent murder of the late Emmanuel Igwe, an INEC employee, and the kidnapping of Igwe Charity. Nine suspected hoodlums were detained by the command.
The suspects are Ogbonna Victor, 24, Christian Uche, 30, Chukwu Nelson, 28, Ifeanyi Egwu, 37, Ude Sylvester, 40, Chinedu Aja, 32, Onyebueke Chidera, 24, Ude Neanbueze, 29, and Nweke Lucky Henry, 28.
Olaleye says: “The command, acting on credible intelligence, embarked on a rescue mission to the kidnappers’ hideout in a forest in Lokpanta community in Umunneochi LGA, Abia State, where the victim was rescued unharmed and the nine suspects arrested.”
The nine accused are all from Lokpanta in Abia State.
Other suspects, including Nnachi Cyprian, 35, Anthony Onoaha, 34, and Ndubuisi Okeagu, 35, were detained in connection with a number of alleged crimes, including the kidnapping of Stanley Dike and Emeka Nwankwo, assaults on police officers of the Ekumenyi Division at the Union Bank roundabout, and the shooting deaths of three police officers in the Oshiri Division.
The suspect, Nnachi Cyprian, allegedly delivered a confessional statement, which resulted in the arrest of ex-military soldiers Anthony Onoaha, 34, and Ndubuisi Okeagu, 35, who specialized in collecting ransom for the gang.
The police chief further revealed that additional suspects, including Nwanya Emmanuel, 27, Kingsley Amezi, 26, Okoro Ogbonna, 32, Abraham Ogbonna, 34, Uchenna Ekuma, 34, and Samuel Ajah, 23, were apprehended at their hideout in the Abakaliki city’s Okposi Street.
An AK-47 weapon with 13 rounds of live ammo, a G3 rifle with a magazine holding nine live rounds, and a Lexus 330 RX salon automobile were among the items seized from the suspects, who are charged with robbery and kidnapping.
Two locally made single-barrel firearms, a locally made revolver pistol, one pump-action gun, a shock gun, 18 live ammunition, and several phones were also found on the other suspects on parade.
