The Abia state police command has paraded several suspected criminals arrested in different parts of the state .Their alleged offences range from robbery to kidnapping.
The state Commissioner of Police [CP] Joshak Habila said at the parade that the command was determined to reduce the level of crime rate in the state.
Habila said that the strategy put in place by the command to keep criminals at bay has been yielding fruits with the arrest of crominals on a regular basis.
During one of the raids that led to the arrest of the suspects, the police rescued a man from a kidnappers’ den.
His abductors had been demanding ransom from his family in Port Harcourt.
The CP said that one Sarah Onuegbu of Nworoma Street, Port Harcourt, Rivers state reported that her brother, Callistus Agunmuo of 48 Ikwere Road, Port Harcourt, called her by phone that he had been kidnapped by four men.
Habila said that the kidnappers asked her to come to his house with the ransom. The police then laid an ambush for the suspects .
“The duo of Light Nwalozie and Anthony Ukaegbu were arrested, while the victim was rescued without any ransom,” the police commisioner said, adding that his men also arrested one Ezenwoko Gideon of Ohuru Amangwu who has allegedly been terrorizing Obingwa and its environs. Gideon was said to have been on the wanted list of the police in connection with several kidnap cases.
The command had earlier arrested his gang.“ Gideon ran away and later resurfaced and has been linked with several kidnap cases in recent time within the Obingwa council area of the state,” he said.
Also paraded were Chika Azubuine of Akpunekpu village and Victor Young of Obiekwensu village both of whom were described as ATM robbers.
The duo were in the process of breaking into an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) of a first generation bank when they were caught.
Their interrogation led to the arrest of Enyeribe Chidi, Obinna Francis, Iwejuo Chilaka and Izuochi Iwejuo from their hideout in Obiekwensu village.
The CP said that the items recovered from them included iron bar, three ATM cards, one handset, four SIM cards, one motorcycle, two locally made singe barrel short guns, DVD player, two motorcycles without registration numbers among others.
The Abia CP said that a woman named Gladys Sunday of Ahiaba Okpuala in Isiala Ngwa North council area reported to the police that her brother, Sampson Uchenna Sunday, a 32 , had been stabbed to death.
Gladys told the police that her brother was stabbed to death by one Chizaram Amandu aged 40 years from Umuagu Eziala Nsulu of the same council area.
However, the suspect after allegedly committing the act ran to the police to report that he fought with a man.
Habila said:“It was found that the suspect stabbed the deceased with a knife at his neck which led to his death”.
The CP said the police found out that the suspect had gone to the back of the man’s house and when the deceased confronted him he attacked him with the knife and claimed that he was hunting for snails at the back of the dead man’s house.
He said that on being questioned by the police the suspect said that he fought with the deceased, but did not know that his action would lead to his death and regretted his action.
Habila also paraded a man for allegedly selling his 14 months old son for a sum of N300,000. The buyer is on the run and the boy rescued, according to the police.
The CP said that the suspect, Maduabuchi George Okey, conspired with one Obinna Erondu to sell his son, Chizoba Maduabuchi.
The child’s mother raised alarm that her baby was missing and the police swung into action.
