Cache of Arms Recovered in Anambra… Arrest 3 for Gunrunning, Kidnapping

The Special Anti-Robbery Squad, (SARS) of the Anambra State Police Command has recovered some arms and ammunition from suspected kidnappers and armed robbers in the state. The command also arrested one Arthur Eugene Nworah a.k.a. Nwa­jinma Gbuagu who is accused of supplying arms and ammunition to kidnappers.

The State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Usman Gwary told newsmen that men of the force led by SARS Commander, Supol Jame Nwafor (CSP) recovered the ammunition following a raid operation on black spots in Fagge community, Onitsha and Awka where kidnapped victims were kept. Items recovered during the exercise include over 9,000 cartridges, seven pump actions and five AK 47 rifles as well a large quantity of Indian hemp.

According to the state police boss, one of the suspects arrested during the operation, Chukwu Ngeh a.k.a. Nwa Jesus accused Nworah of being the one who sold arms and ammunition which his gang used in kidnapping one ‘Milk Mala’ in July 2013.

Ngeh accused Nworah of supplying his gang with information about his clients, saying that he instructed them to recover the guns he had sold and kidnap  their owners in the process.

“He would order us to go back and collect the guns which he had sold out and we would kidnap the victims,” Ngeh said.

Gwary blamed the high number of guns recovered by men of the police command on the activities of the likes of Nworah.

He said the command was still after the kidnappers in order to recover more ammunition from them and called for the assistance of members of public in supplying the police with vital information about criminals.

He revealed that the command was able to arrest another set of 10 suspected kidnappers who came from various states and countries like Malaysia. He said the gang operated in Anambra and normally left the state after their operations. He said the four suspects are Philip Ani who hails from Nkanu in Enugu State; Chukwudi  Anieke Odikpo who hails from Anam bra East Local Government Area and Okeke Okoye who hails from Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State.

One of the suspects, Ani, 41, revealed that he was based in Malaysia but came to Anambra to carry out his nefarious activities. “I live in Malaysia but I do come to Anambra State to kidnap. I have kidnapped three victims. I kidnapped one Engineer in Anambra State on March 29, 2014 when he was coming from the church and he spent five days in our custody. We collected a ransom of N5mil­lion from his family.

He also confessed to having taken part in the abduction of a man whom he said was the manager of Falcon Petrol Station in January, adding that the victim spent four days in their custody and was only released after his family paid a ransom of N5million.

Gwary revealed that the command had also arrested some of the kidnappers who patronized Nworah for ammunition. He added that two other suspects, Echozone Akpulu and Ikehcukwu Felix were among the kidnappers who kept their victims in hideouts in Awka. He disclosed further that the suspects had confessed that their victims usually spent five days or seven days depending on when their families were able to pay the ransom demanded by his group. Gwary stated that the suspects would soon be charged to court.