Police parade robbers, cultists

The Abia State Police Command, on Wednesday, paraded suspected members of a robbery gang allegedly operating at Ikwuano area of the state. Commissioner of Police , Adamu Ibrahim, who paraded the suspects, gave their names as Chinda ThankGod, 22; and Onuoha Chukwuka, 24; both residents of Umuariaga Ikwuano Local Government Area of the state where they were alleged to be terrorising residents. According to the CP, the suspects were arrested by a team of policemen on patrol while they were allegedly robbing unsuspecting members of the public. Some of the items recovered from the suspects were locally made guns, live cartridges, two masks, charms and wraps of weed suspected to be Indian hemp. He said investigations were on to track down other fleeing members of the gang. Similarly, the police paraded Friday Henshaw , and Uduak Effiong, allegedly arrested at Umuocha village in the Obingwa Local Government Area of the state with some locally made guns. Continue...

Adamu said the suspects would be charged for illegal possession of fire arms after thorough investigations. The police also paraded a group of 12 suspected cultists including students of Abia Polytechnic allegedly arrested at a hotel located at Ama- Ogbonna area of Aba. The police said the suspects were arrested on October 11, 2014 with weapons and a bag of weed suspected to be Indian hemp. According to the police, one of the suspects, Ejike Okafor, a final year Accounting student of Abia Polytechnic, was discovered with a bullet wound which he allegedly claimed he sustained at Onitsha three years ago, while one of the suspects still at large shot one Emeka in a bid to escape arrest. But during an interview, the suspect, Okafor, told PUNCH Metro that he was not a cultist but was only drinking at the bar of the said hotel when policemen suddenly swooped on him and others and bundled them to the police station. Other suspects paraded by the police were suspected car snatchers , Michael Okon, and Faith Allwell . While Okon was allegedly arrested in a compound at a border town between Abia and Akwa Ibom, a Ford van snatched from its owner in Owerri, Imo State was recovered from Allwell by a team of policemen on patrol. But the suspect, Allwell, claimed that he was a mechanic, and that the car was given to him by one Emeka, now at large, to repair. Meanwhile, the Abia CP has assured residents of maximum security while warning criminal elements to steer clear of the state or be ready to face the law. He reiterated the preparedness of his men to reduce the crime rate in the state especially as the Christmas and New Year festivities approach.