Chinwendu Nwangwu, also known as “Onyearmy,” ran away from the army and was wanted. On Wednesday, the Imo State Police Command put him on display.
The command’s spokesperson, Michael Abattam, said that Nwaagwu, who had been in the army for eight years, had done a lot of bad things.
Abattam says that the suspect was caught in the state’s Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area while his father was being buried. He had been watched for years.
He declared, “The Imo State Police Command has arrested one of the renowned and brutal IPOB/ESN commanders, a deserter from the Nigerian Army, Lance Corporal Nwangwu Chiwendu, alias Onyearmy, 34, who has been wanted by the command and has been pursued for a considerable amount of time.”
“The suspect was apprehended on December 23, 2022, at around 10.30 a.m. in his home town of Amahohuru Nguru in Aboh Mbaise LGA, following the diligent gathering of both credible and technical intelligence, which took place during his late father’s funeral. The suspect’s modus operandi was guerrilla-like, which meant that he carried out surprise terror attacks and went into hiding in neighbouring states.
“The suspect sat in a commanding position as his operatives were under observation. When they spotted police officers, they fled and started shooting at the officers while using the crowd as cover. To prevent their retaliation from accidentally shooting innocent bystanders in the mob, the brave police officers used professionalism and tact. After a protracted pursuit, he was eventually captured alongside two of his gang members who had been shot, while the others managed to flee.
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Amazingly, he was unharmed by a bullet, which he credited to charms he wore all over his body that he named “Odeshi,” which means native bullet-proof.
Over 1,000 ESN members allegedly received instruction from Nwangwu in firearms and terrorist assaults.
He was also reported to have admitted to organising attacks on security personnel, police stations, and Independent National Electoral Commission offices.
The suspect is said to have told how his group killed Ahmed Gulak on May 30, 2021. Gulak was a well-known political advisor to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
He admitted that he was in charge of the operation, and after they betrayed him by stopping the Toyota Camry taxi that was transporting him and a friend to the airport and ordering them to get out, shooting him but missing his body, he went up to him, took off the rings from his right fingers, and shot and killed him along the airport road.
The police official said, “He led his gang members, including one Okechukwu Duru and others, to kidnap one Jude Nwahiri on November 4, 2021, and collected a ransom of N21 million after killing four people in the victim’s home at Amaohuru Nguru in Aboh Mbaise LGA, Imo State.
In addition, Nwangwu was accused of killing a number of people, including the youth leader of Amaohuru Nguru, one Krubo, a police inspector, a police sergeant, and the traditional ruler of Amaohuru Nguru, Eze Anyanwu, in Aboh Mbaise LGA, Imo State.
On December 25, the suspect is said to have taken security personnel to a camp in Obowo, where they found, among other things, five GPMG rifles, four cut-to-size double-barrelled rifles, five pump-action rifles, three home-made bombs, 19 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition, 52 live cartridges, 14 tear gas canisters, two police handcuffs, and four safety desert boots.
When asked about the crime, the suspect admitted to it and said that some of their backers lived both in the U.S. and abroad.
