Essential Ndubuisi
The Anambra State police have arrested six individuals suspected to be members of a notorious criminal gang that had been terrorizing the Eziowelle community in Idemili North Local Government Area and its environs for a long time. The suspects were apprehended over the weekend after the Commissioner of Police, Echeng Echeng, received reports of their criminal activities in the area.
According to police sources, the gang had been using an illegal vigilante group to kidnap, rob, intimidate, and harass people in the community. They had also been breaking into homes of prominent individuals, stealing property, raping female family members, and kidnapping others for ransom. It was also reported that the gang had forced some of their victims to pay large sums of money after torturing and intimidating them at the offices of some security agencies.
Following the reports, the Commissioner of Police directed the Commander of Anti-cult Unit, Uche Noah, to swing into action and round up all the criminals involved. Noah led an operation into the town, and after an exchange of firepower that lasted for hours, the police team succeeded in rounding up six of the suspects. The suspects were found in possession of three pump-action rifles, one Beretta pistol, ammunition, and other incriminating items.
Police sources also revealed that a prominent man who claimed to be a pastor controlled another gang that had been involved in criminal acts in Eziowelle with the tacit support of some leaders in the community. The gang had made the town so hot that many indigenes had fled, both in Nigeria and abroad, for fear of being kidnapped and forced to pay ransom.
The police spokesman in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the arrest of the six suspects, describing the operation as unprecedented in execution. Meanwhile, efforts are underway to apprehend other members of the gang who escaped with bullet wounds during the operation.
