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Tag: Police

  • ‘I have kidnapped ten persons, collected ransom in dollars’

    ‘I have kidnapped ten persons, collected ransom in dollars’

    A suspected kidnap kingpin, Chukwudi Dumeme Onuamadike , also known as Evans, who was arrested by police in Lagos said on Sunday that he chose to collect ransom in American dollars to be different from other kidnappers.

    The suspect, while being paraded at the Lagos Police Command in Ikeja, told newsmen that he started kidnapping in 2015, after he left his spare parts business, a claim that contradicted the police statement that he was declared wanted in 2013.

    He claimed that he lost N20 million to Customs officers, which made him to leave his trade.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the suspect was arrested in his mansion in Magodo area of the state on Saturday.

    Evans, who wasn’t sure of how many people he had kidnapped, said the highest he had collected as ransom was one million dollars.

    “I can’t figure out how much I have collected so far or how many people I have kidnapped, but I have kidnapped up to 10 since 2015.

    “I chose to collect ransom in dollars to be different, and the maximum I have collected as ransom so far is 1 million dollars.

    “I work in two groups. A team moves with me to kidnap victims while we hand over to the other team that takes the victim to the hide out.

    “Kingsley introduced me to kidnapping, but I usually get my ammunition from one Chinedu and Ehis whom I met at Ago-Iwoye.

    “I also do drug business that enabled me to buy my property,” the suspect said.

    According to the police, Evans collected $1million from no fewer than four of his victims.

    Among them are:

    * James Uduji, who was kidnapped close to his house at 7th Avenue Festac late last year. The Evans gang held for six weeks. He paid $1million to regain his freedom.

    * Chief Raymond Okoye – Odu- Na –Ichida,, who was kidnapped in 2015. He also paid $1million as ransom. He was released after two months in captivity.

    * Uche Okoroafor, a trader at Alaba who was also kidnapped in 2015 for three months, also paid $1million.

    * Elias Ukachukwu kidnapped November 2015 similarly paid $1million. The police said the Evans gang demanded an additional $1million, claiming family members were rude to them during negotiation.

    The Force PPRO, Jimoh Moshood said that the suspect had collected billions of naira from his victims and had property in and outside the country.

    He said that Evans was declared wanted in 2013, following a kidnap attempt that was foiled by the police.

    “He is said to have masterminded several kidnap cases in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun and South-South states,’’ the police said.

    Moshood said further investigation into his activities were ongoing.

  • Kidnapping: Police nab most wanted suspect in Lagos

    Kidnapping: Police nab most wanted suspect in Lagos

    The Inspector-General’s Intelligence Response Team (IRT) led by ACP Abba Kyari on Saturday said it has arrested one of the most wanted suspected kidnappers in Lagos.

    Kyari, who confirmed the arrest to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said that the suspect was arrested at his Magodo residence in Lagos.

    “IRT headquarters in Abuja is celebrating the arrest of the most wanted brilliant and notorious high profile kidnapper in Nigeria.
    “He has collected several billions of Naira as ransom in the last seven years as the kingpin of kidnappers.

    “He was arrested at about 1.00p.m on Saturday in his residence in Magodo Estate, Lagos,” Kyari said.

    He commended the Force Headquarters for mobilising the resources to go all out against the “richest and most notorious kidnapper” in the history of Nigeria.

    Kyari said the Inspector-General had directed that the suspect should be paraded before newsmen on Sunday in Lagos. (NAN)

  • Kidnap in Kaduna: Victims, family berate Police over denial

    Kidnap in Kaduna: Victims, family berate Police over denial

    Following the release of three out over 20 persons kidnapped on Kaduna-Abuja highway, the victims and their families have berated the Kaduna State Police Command for denying that they were kidnapped.
    Comrade Danjuma Sarki who spoke on behalf of the victims and their families at a press conference in Kaduna on Saturday described as shameful, the position of the Kaduna Police Command over numbers of Kidnapped victims on Kaduna/Abuja road recently.
    Police had on Friday 9th June 2017, in a statement signed by Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP Ahmad Abdulrahaman debunked the report over the kidnap of over 20 people traveling along Abuja/Kaduna road.

    “A story is been circulated on the internet and some print media about the purported kidnapping of 20 persons at Akilibu village along Abuja – Kaduna Express way. Although, the command has recorded an incident where five (5) persons driving along Kaduna-Abuja express way in a Toyota camry were attacked, three people (3) were robbed and the two (2) others kidnapped to unknown destination.
    “When the report reached us, the Command’s technical and human resources where deployed to ensure the rescue of the two (2) victims and the arrest of the culprits,” the Police stated.
    But according to Danjuma, he and some of his concerned friends had on Thursday 8th, reported the matter to the police command after the news broke out and the police promised to investigate and ensure the release of the captives.
    He said, “to our greatest shock, instead of doing the needful, the Kaduna state Police Command decided to debunk it through a press statement, describing it as false, claiming that there was no truth in the story, that it was misleading.
    “Though, we suspected this ab initio, due to the manner they treated our report by claiming not to have received any complaint or report from any quarters or their men covering those areas.
    “However, we told them we were there to formally report the matter. That was when the same DCP Abdulrahaman later owned up to us that the the Divisional Police Officer of Kateri Division informed them after receiving a call during a meeting they held on kidnapping on the on the same axis on Wednesday 7th June, 2017 at the Force Headquarters.”
    Danjuma, added that from that moment they began to smell a rat, which resulted into subsequent Shameful denial by the Police.
    “These action gave birth to our total loss of confidence on the police to investigate the matter, which led to our refusal to contact them when we established contact with the kidnappers.
    “We wish to categorically and unequivocally reaffirm that the incident is true with physical proof. Despite several payment of ransom and releases of some victims as at yesterday night, there are still more than 30 people in their captivity.
    “We want to reiterate here that no one is safe on Kaduna-Abuja express way due to the nonchalant attitude and lack of commitment from our security agencies and the government.”
    He expressed disappointment that despite the deployment of 510 anti-riot police men backed with 40 patrol vehicles and armoured personnel carriers on Abuja-Kaduna express way, which was expected to man dark spots and vulnerable points in the area, where this spate of kidnapping has degenerated to an intolerable level on high way.

  • Kano: Two die, as Police, drug dealers clash at Sabon Gari market

    Kano: Two die, as Police, drug dealers clash at Sabon Gari market

    Two people were said to have lost their lives, while some others suffered varying degrees of injury, following a bloody clash between drugs dealers and Security Agencies, including the State Police Force, Kano State Transport Road Agency (KAROTA), Civil Defence and Hisbah in the commercial city of Kano.

    The security agencies were said to have reportedly stormed the Sabon Gari market, Kano and impounded large quantities of drugs and hospital equipment been sold in the market.

    Reacting to the development, the Caretaker Chairman of the Nigeria Association of Patent and Drug Dealers Association (NAPDDA), Nnamdi Dozie, who made the disclosure, said the unarmed drug dealers confronted the Security operatives, who invaded the market on the claims that the dealers were involved in the sale of fake and unregistered drugs in the market.

    While describing the allegations as stage-managed, so as to tarnish the image of the drug dealers and their businesses, Dozie however called on the Kano State Government, including the Emirate Council to intervene, so as to amicably resolve the dispute.

    According to Dozie, numerous efforts by the Drug dealers to table their petition before the authorities proved futile, explaining that the combined security operatives cordoned the market, preventing sellers and buyers from gaining entry into the market.

    Also, Dozie alleged that the police, alongside other security agencies, not only barricaded the market but prevented buyers and sellers from gaining entry into and out of the market.

    Apart from that, he alleged that the Security operatives also harassed them with the butt of their guns, lamenting that in the ensuing scuffle, two people lost their lives.

    ”There is no way that they can fight and defeat the government but we are only pleading for the appropriate authorities to tamper justice with mercy. We are not selling banned drugs, as claimed by the security operatives. We are selling genuine drugs.”

    Meanwhile, the drug and hospital equipment dealers in the market have expressed dismay over the ill-treatment meted on them by security agencies.

    ”What really happened is that, as soon as you gain entry into the market, with your goods, the security agencies will impound and seize the goods. Sometimes, they will not care to screen the goods one is carrying, whether it is among banned goods or not. They seize products, ranging from cotton wool to powder, as well as allegedly collect money from sellers.”

    ”For me, I do not deal on drugs but only sell disposable and hospital equipment. The bottom line is that all the security operatives don’t care.’ We have agencies that can sanitize the market, such as NAFDAC, NDLEA but certainly not the police, who invaded the market vicinity when people started arguing and started shooting into the air. The expended about 24 cartridges, at the end of which two people died.”

    Contacted, the Police Command spokesman, DSP Musa Magaji Majiya, said investigations have commenced to unravel the cause of the clash between security agents and the traders.

     

  • 2015 polls: Kwara police, army, SSS, INEC, others shared in $115m ‘Diezani bribe’, says witness

    The Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday heard how several individuals and public officials shared in an alleged bribe of $115 million paid by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, to compromise the 2015 general election.

    Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) named the officials yesterday during the trial of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Dele Belgore, before Justice Rilwan Aikawa.

    In two documents it tendered before the court, the anti-graft agency said the individuals and public officials benefited from N450 million and N155,220,000 out of the $115 million (about N36 billion) Diezani cash.

    The disbursements, which the EFCC claimed were bribes, were contained in a document titled, “Security and transportation per state”, and another one titled, “Kwara State”.

    According to the first document, the Resident Assistant Inspector-General of Police (IGP) in Kwara State at the time got N1 million cash and the Commissioner of Police (COP) in Kwara State at the time received N10 million cash. The Deputy COP in charge of Operations got N2 million cash.

    Also, the Assistant Commissioners of Police in charge of operations and administration in Kwara State, received N1 million cash each.

    The document also showed that the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kwara State for the 2015 general elections got N10 million cash. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Administrative Secretary in Kwara State at the time received N5 million cash.

    The document added that INEC’s Head of Department, Operations and “his boys” were given N5 million. Other officers received and shared N2 million among themselves.

    Also listed as beneficiaries of the alleged bribe in the state were the “OC Mopol” and “his men”, who got N7 million, “2iC Mopol” and men in the state, who got N10 million; the Director of the State Security Service (SSS) and his men, who got N2.5 million.

    The military in Kwara State was bribed with N50 million, according to the document, while other security agencies including the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) got N20 million..

    An EFCC investigator, Usman Zakari, who brought the document, told the court that it was recovered from Belgore.

    Belgore is accused of collecting N450 million from Diezani and distributing same to beneficiaries in Kwara State.

    The EFCC said he handled the cash without going through any financial institution, contrary to sections 1(a), 16(d), 15(2)(d) and18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012.

    According to the commission, the offence is punishable under sections 15(3)(4), and 16(2)(b) of the same Act.

    Standing trial along with Belgore for the offence is a former Minister of National Planning, Prof. Abubakar Suleiman.

    The SAN and the don were arraigned on charges of money laundering on February 8, 2017 and they pleaded not guilty.

    Zakari is the second witness to be called by the EFCC in its efforts to prove its case.

    Testifying before Justice Aikawa yesterday, the witness explained that Belgore volunteered the list to the EFCC when he was invited and interrogated by the anti-graft agency.

    The investigator noted that Belgore’s endorsement on the document, stating: “document supplied by me, Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN).”

    The second document the EFCC said it recovered from Belgore, also showed beneficiaries of a sum of N155,220,000 and the breakdown of what they got.

    Among them were 15 electoral officers who each received, 250,000; 15 supervisors, who got N100,000 each; state Returning Officers who got N1m, among others.

    The two documents were tendered by the EFCC prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo. They were admitted in evidence as Exhibit 7 and 7A, against Belgore and Suleiman, as their lawyers, Mr. Ebun Shofunde (SAN) and Mr. Olatunji Ayanlaja (SAN), raised no objection.

    In his evidence, Zakari told the court that the EFCC’s findings showed that the money was disbursed in cash to the beneficiaries.

    “My lord, the mode of payment, as contained in Exhibit 7, is cash payment. The payments were not done through any financial institution,” Zakari said.

    Justice Aikawa also entertained Belgore’s application seeking the dismissal of the charges on the grounds that the EFCC failed to attach an affidavit showing that it had concluded investigation in the case before bringing the case to court.

    But in opposition, the EFCC lawyer argued that the current law governing criminal cases in the country, was the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.

    He argued that the ACJA did not list filing of the said affidavit as one of the conditions that must be fulfilled before a criminal charge could be filed in court, stressing that the provisions of the ACJA were superior to that of the Federal High Court Practice Direction.

    Justice Aikawa adjourned till July 7 for ruling.

  • Police kill two suspected highway robbers in Ogun

    •Luxury bus, cash, arms recovered

    Two persons suspected to have robbed a Southeast-bound luxury bus at Ogbere on Sagamu-Ore Expressway in Ogun State were shot dead by men of the State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) attached to the Ogebere-Ijebu divisional police headquarters.

    The suspects’ bodies were displayed at Ogbere Police Station with three pump action rifles, two locally-made pistols and a machete, allegedly recovered from them.

    Also, N166,000, handsets, laptop, wristwatches and other valuables, said to have been snatched from the victims were recovered from the suspects.

    The 34-passenger bus on the fleet of the Chisco Investment Company, with registration number (Lagos) AAA 649 XN, was said to have been attacked by the robbers at 1 a.m.

    The hoodlums allegedly broke the windshields of the bus, forced their way in and evicted the driver and drove it into the bush.

    It was gathered that the robbers first used an 18-seater bus to block access to the luxury bus, compelled the driver to pull over and used their weapons to smash their way into the bus.

    A victim, Donatus Adie, told reporters that the bus took off at Jibowu in Lagos en route Aba-Owerri-Port-Harcourt.

    He said it was at J4 near Ogbere the robbers struck and dispossessed the passengers of their valuables.

    Adie said for over two hours the operation lasted, the hoodlums terrorised the passengers.

    The traveller said even after the robbers had vanished into the bush, the fear-stricken victims remained in the bush until the police arrived.

    Kunle Apanishile, who said the suspects snatched his N30,000 and wristwatch, added that the hoodlums beat him up.

    Police spokesman Abimbola Oyeyemi, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), said the police got information that a bus conveying passengers was attacked at J4 Junction.

    The spokesman said this prompted the Ogbere Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Agunbiade Adeyinka, to storm the area with his team.

    Abimbola said although the robbers had left the scene when the police arrived, he added that the police traced them to their hideout in a bush, where two of them were shot dead.

    He said another suspect escaped with gunshot wound.

  • How Police, Army, SSS, INEC, others shared in $115m ‘Diezani bribe’ – Witness

    How Police, Army, SSS, INEC, others shared in $115m ‘Diezani bribe’ – Witness

    The Federal High Court in Lagos Thursday heard how several individuals and public officials shared in an alleged bribe of $115m paid by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, to compromise the 2015 general election.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) named the officials Thursday during the trial of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Dele Belgore before Justice Rilwan Aikawa.

    In two documents it tendered before the court, the anti-graft agency said the persons benefited from N450 million and N155, 220,000 out of the $115m (about N36 billion) Diezani cash.

    The disbursements, which the EFCC claimed were bribes, were contained in a document titled, “Security and Transportation per State”, and another one titled, “Kwara State”.

    According to the first document, the Resident Assistant Inspector-General of Police (IGP) in Kwara State at the time got N1 million cash, the Commissioner of Police (COP) in Kwara State at the time received N10m cash, while the Deputy COP in charge of Operations got N2 million cash.

    Also, the Assistant Commissioners of Police in charge of operations and administration in Kwara State, received N1 million cash each.

    The document also showed that the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kwara State for the 2015 general elections got N10 million cash, while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Administrative Secretary in Kwara State at the time received N5 million cash.

    According to the document, INEC’s Head of Department, Operations and “his boys” were given N5m, while “other officers” received and shared N2m among themselves.

    Also listed as beneficiaries of the alleged bribe in Kwara State were the “OC Mopol” and “his men”, who got N7 million, “2iC Mopol” and men in the state, who got N10m; the Director of the State Security Service (SSS) and his men, who got N2.5m.

    The military in Kwara State was bribed with N50m, according to the document, while other security agencies including the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) got N20m..

    An EFCC investigator Usman Zakari, who brought the document, told the court that it was recovered from Belgore.

    Belgore is accused of collecting N450m from Diezani and distributing same to beneficiaries in Kwara State.

    The EFCC said he handled the cash without going through any financial institution, contrary to sections 1(a), 16(d), 15(2)(d) and18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012.

    According to the commission, the offence is punishable under sections 15(3)(4), and 16(2)(b) of the same Act.

    Standing trial along with Belgore for the offence is a former Minister of National Planning, Prof. Abubakar Suleiman.

    The SAN and the don were arraigned on charges of money laundering on February 8, 2017 but they pleaded not guilty.

    Zakari is the second witness to be called by the EFCC in its efforts to prove its case.

    Testifying before Justice Aikawa on Thursday, the witness explained that Belgore volunteered the list to the EFCC when he was invited and interrogated by the anti-graft agency.

    The investigator pointed out Belgore’s endorsement on the document, stating: “document supplied by me, Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN).”

    The second document the EFCC said it recovered from Belgore, also showed showed beneficiaries of a sum of N155, 220,000 and the breakdown of what they got.

    Among them were 15 electoral officers who each received, 250,000; 15 supervisors, who got N100, 000 each; state Returning Officers who got N1m, among others.

    The two documents were tendered by the EFCC prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, and admitted in evidence as Exhibit 7 and 7A, against Belgore and Suleiman, as their lawyers, Mr. Ebun Shofunde (SAN) and Mr. Olatunji Ayanlaja (SAN), raised no objection.

    In his evidence, Zakari told the court that the EFCC’s findings showed that the money was disbursed in cash to the beneficiaries.

    “My Lord, the mode of payment, as contained in Exhibit 7, is cash payment. The payments were not done through any financial institution,” Zakari said.

    Meanwhile, Justice Aikawa entertained Belgore’s application seeking the dismissal of the charges on the grounds that the EFCC failed to attach an affidavit showing that it had concluded investigation in the case before bringing the case to court.

    Moving the application on Thursday, Belgore’s lawyer, Shofunde, argued that the failure of the EFCC to attach an affidavit saying it had concluded investigation before filing the charges was a fundamental breach of the Federal High Court Practice Direction and which had rendered the charges incompetent.

    He urged Justice Aikawa to quash the charges and free his client.

    But in opposition, the EFCC lawyer, Oyedepo, argued that the current law governing criminal cases in the country was the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.

    He argued that the ACJA did not list filling of the said affidavit as one of the conditions that must be fulfilled before a criminal charge could be filed in court, stressing that the provisions of the ACJA were superior to that of the Federal High Court Practice Direction.

    Besides, he referred Justice Aikawa to Section 221 of the ACJA which barred a judge from entertaining any application challenging the competence of charges in a criminal case in the middle of trial and Section 396(2) of the Act, which barred a judge from ruling on any such application until judgment is delivered in the case.

    While urging the judge to dismiss the application, Oyedepo said granting it would “amount to slaughtering justice on the altar of technicality.”

    Justice Aikawa adjourned till July 7 for ruling.

     

  • Police kill two highway robbers; recover luxury bus, cash, arms 

    Police kill two highway robbers; recover luxury bus, cash, arms 

    Two persons suspected to have robbed an East bound luxury bus at the Ogbere (Ogun State) stretch of the Sagamu-Ore Expressway, were shot dead by men of the  Anti-robbery squad attached to the Ogebere-Ijebu Divisional Police Headquarters, Ogun State.

    Their suspects’ remains were dumped at the premises of the Ogbere Police station along with  the three Pump Action rifles, two local pistols and a machete recovered from them.

    Also, the sum of N166, 000:00k, handsets, laptop, wristwatches and other valuables snatched from the victims were recovered by the Police.

    The 34 passenger bus on the fleet of  the Chisco Investment company and marked Lagos AAA 649 XN, was said to have been attacked by the robbers around 1.a.m, who broke the windshields of the bus, forced their way in and evicted the driver before commandeering it into the bush.

    It was gathered that the robbers first used an 18 seater bus to block the access way of the luxury bus, compelled the driver to pull – up and used their weapons to smash their way into it.

    A victim, Donatus Adie, told journalists that the bus took off at  Jibowu in Lagos enroute Aba-Owerri-Port-Harcourt, and that it was when they got to the J4 area of Ogbere around 1.08.a.m that the  robbers struck and dispossessed the passengers of their valuables.

    He said for over two hours the operation lasted, victims were held in terror by the robbers and that even after the suspects had vanished into the bush, the fear – stricken victims stay put in the bush until police rescue team arrived.

    Also, Kunle Apanishile, who said the suspects snatched N30,000 and wristwatch from him, added that he was beaten by them.

    The Police Public Relations Officer in Ogun State, Abimbola Oyeyemi, told journalists that the police got a tip off that a bus carrying passengers had been hijacked and attacked  at the J4 Junction, prompting the DPO of Ogbere division, Agunbiade Adeyinka and  his team to storm  the area.

    Abimbola said although, the robbers had left the scene when the Police arrived but they traced them to their hide – out in a bush, where two of them  were shot dead while one other escaped with gunshot wound.

    The Police Image maker revealed that the sum of N166, 000 was recovered from the robbers, and said it would be shared among the victims.

     

  • Police arrest pastor for operating baby factory

    •Expectant mothers, others rescued

    The Abia State Police Command has arrested and paraded a pastor for allegedly operating a church and a medical centre which were converted into a baby factory. The church is located at 252 Faulks Road in Aba.

    Parading the pastor, Christopher Adebanya Tochukwu, as well as other suspected criminals in Umuahia, the state capital, Police Commissioner Leye Oyebade said the cleric has allegedly been raping the expectant mothers at his medical centre.

    The police chief said when one of the girls was interrogated, she claimed that Tochukwu had been raping them.

    He recalled an instance when the pastor was stabbed on the neck when he attempted to sleep with one of the girls.

    Oyebade said one of the girls, Imeobong Udoh, told interrogators that her two-month-old baby delivered at the centre was forcefully taken away by the pastor’s wife and sold to an unknown person.

    Other girls who were rescued by the police are: Jane Ikechukwu, Blessing Ariet and Gift Paul.

    Three of them were at different stages of their pregnancy.

    The police chief said men from Ariaria Police Station, who handled the operation, rescued a two-week-old baby girl.

    He said the baby had been taken to a motherless babies’ home for care and custody.

    Blessing said the pastor attempted to rape her, adding that when she refused, he beat her up with a belt and left several marks on her body.

    She recalled that Tochukwu attempted to sleep with her one day but had to stop “when his wife suddenly came into the room and he pretended that he was examining me”.

    Jane said the pastor’s wife, who is on the run, was aware of her husband’s activities.

    She said: “His wife said when he sleeps with the girls, the babies in our wombs are fed naturally”.

    Oyebade said operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad at Obehie Division arrested Godspower Emeka, 28, of Orji Street in Obehie, for allegedly stealing Mercy Emeka, 3, of the same address.

    He said Mercy was sold to Kelvin Ogbunigwu, 35, of Omuma in Rivers State for N150,000.

    Oyebade added: “The baby has been recovered and the suspect is her uncle.”

    When The Nation spoke with Emeka, he said the load of feeding 11 children was too much for him.

    He said: “So, when one of my friends, Ogbunigwu, told me that there was someone who would buy the baby, I sold her to him.”

    Asked why he did not sell one of his children, since he said he had children, he said: “It is the devil, and I regret my actions. I plead that my sister should forgive me for my devilish action.”

    Oyebade said the command’s anti-crime plans had started yielding fruits.

    The police chief said men from Ndiegoro Division engaged a five-man robbery gang in a gun duel near a first generation bank in Aba.

    He said: “Two of the hoodlums were gunned down, while three others escaped. Their operational car, a Nissan Laurel with registration number AE 221 ARG and other items, were recovered.”

     

  • Police arrest suspects with 4,555 National Identity cards

    Police arrest suspects with 4,555 National Identity cards

    THE police in Cross River on Monday arrested four suspected thieves for unlawful possession of 4,555 National Identity cards and 21 others who committed various offences, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hafiz Inuwa, said.

    Inuwa, who spoke with reporters in Calabar yesterday, said the suspects were arrested by personnel of the Police Command on May 19.

    He said the suspected identity card thieves were arrested at a location on Eyo-Edem Street in Calabar following a tip-off.

    The commissioner explained that after a thorough search on the suspects, 4,555 National Identity cards bearing different names were found on them.

    “Upon interrogation, the four suspects confessed that one Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) staff gave the cards to them.

    “All the four suspects confessed to the crime and investigation is on-going to arrest the alleged INEC staff,” he said.

    The commissioner said the command also arrested three suspected armed robbers on May 2, after they allegedly robbed Solomon Alfred of his N380,000 and three mobile phones.

    “On May 2, our men arrested three suspected armed robbers who had robbed Solomon Alfred of his N380,000 and his three mobile phones.

    “Also on May 13, our men arrested a student of the University of Calabar for being in possession of fake currencies.

    “During interrogation, the suspect claimed that a friend of his that resides at Uyo gave him the fake currencies.

    “Investigation is on-going to unravel the truth of the matter and arrest his accomplices to ascertain the source/distributor of these fake currencies,” he said.

    The police also arrested three suspected manufacturers of firearms on May 19, the commissioner said.

    He said the police recovered five locally made pistols; six locally made single barrel guns, one locally made single barrel long gun, among others.

    “During the period under review, the state police command has arrested 25 suspects for various offences.

    “We recovered five AK 47 riffles, seven magazines and 200 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition, one battle axe, eight live cartridges, among others,” he said.