The Anambra State Police Command has Paraded some of the suspects involved in various crimes at the Command’s Headquarters Amawbia.
The State Commissioner of Police, CP Adeoye Aderemi, stated this while addressing the press on his scorecard for three months since his assumption of office in Anambra State.
“Out of the 128 suspects, 30 were arrested for insurgency, 38 were arrested for cultism, armed robbery 39 and 22 for kidnapping and a total of 119 arms and ammunition were recovered from the suspects within the period under review.
The 6 suspects and their receivers who were earlier arrested for vandalising the second Niger Bridge armored cable and one other News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) properties serial robber in Awka were among those paraded,” he stated.
The Commissioner listed the items recovered from the suspects: pump action guns, locally made cut-to-size guns, pistols and cartridges, fake police uniforms, Biafra flags, assorted charms, one roll armored cable and 16 iron grills stolen from the 2nd Niger Bridge Onitsha, others are 14 tricycles, 9 cars and 7 motorcycles.
“All the suspects will be charged to Court as soon as the investigation is concluded.
6 kidnapped victims were also rescued by the operatives and they have long been reunited with their families,” he noted.
Sources and Proliferation Of Weapons
CP Adeoye, also hinted that arms and ammunition are being traded in Onitsha, the commercial city of the State but assured that the trade would cease under his watch until Anambra State is pronounced a free crime state in Nigeria.
“I am talking from a long experience of my service in the state, during the 90s, and the situation had even worsened now. Onitsha’s main market is one of the sources for the proliferation of weapons in the state. And also Awka blacksmiths manufacture local guns, thereby contributing in the proliferation of illegal arms, but I tell you the command will go after such arm manufacturers and bring them to book,” he expatiated.
The Commissioner also noted that illegal arms were also being brought into the South-East from Cameroon via Port Harcourt. He said the dealers would package such weapons with stockfish and bring them to a place near Aba, Abia State for ready buyers.
Grace Period
He, however, restated the Inspector General of Police’s grace period for people with illegal firearms to return them to the police, stating that within the grace period, nobody would be punished or prosecuted for returning such arms.
‘After this grace period we shall begin the search and recovery of such firearms the way that it has not been done in this part of the country and culprits will be prosecuted appropriately,” he warned.
A RUNDOWN OF ACHIEVEMENTS RECORDED BY ANAMBRA STATE POLICE COMMAND FROM 1ST JULY 2023 TO DATE:
Number of INSURGENTS ARRESTED – 30
Number of armed ROBBERY SUSPECTS ARRESTED – 39
Number of CULTISTS ARRESTED – 38
Number of KIDNAPPERS ARRESTED – 22
Number of KIDNAPPED VICTIMS RESCUED – 6
Number of FIREARM RECOVERED – 26
Number of AMMUNITION RECOVERED – 93
Number of MOTOR VEHICLES RECOVERED – 25
Number of TRICYCLES RECOVERED – 14
Number of motorcycles RECOVERED – 7
Number of ARMORED CABLES RECOVERED – One roll
Number of IRON GRILL FROM 2nd NIGER BRIDGE RECOVERED – 16.
The State Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operation, DCP Ibrahim Ezekiel and the State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, were also present during the media update.
Dominica Nwabufo
