The Anambra State Police Command has recorded major breakthroughs in multiple criminal investigations within the past two weeks, including the uncovering of a staged kidnapping and the arrest of a suspected gang leader.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Police Public Relations Officer, Tochukwu Ikenga, said the achievements followed intensified intelligence-led operations and collaboration with other security agencies.
Among the key developments, operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) Awkuzu on March 14 uncovered a case of conspiracy and staged kidnapping involving two suspects and an 18-year-old victim, Miss Mmesoma Ifediora, who was rescued unharmed from a forest in Iruayika, Awkuzu.
According to the police, “the victim confessed that the kidnapping was staged in collaboration with her boyfriend… with the intent to extort the sum of Three Million Naira (#3,000,000) from her parents.”
He added that the victim revealed they “had both taken an oath of secrecy and had been moving from one location to another over a period of about two months to sustain the deception.”
The police disclosed that the victim’s parents had already paid ₦240,000 into her account before the plot was uncovered, while the boyfriend, identified as Obiora Okoye, alias “Stainless,” fled and remains at large.
Items recovered from the scene include “ten SIM cards of different networks, one MTN 4G WiFi device, two female pants, one native ‘juju’ calabash, one mobile phone, necklace, white bandage, and computer cables,” the statement added.
In a separate operation on March 18, operatives arrested a suspected kidnapping gang leader, Chukwuebuka Eze, linked to an earlier incident in Obosi.
Ikenga said the suspect was “identified as the gang leader responsible for the kidnapping incident in Obosi where ransom of One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (#150,000) was paid before the victims were released.”
He noted that the suspect confessed to the crime and other related criminal activities, while also providing information on accomplices currently at large.
Recovered items include “one locally made double-barrel shotgun, five live cartridges and a mobile phone belonging to one of the victims.”
“These successes are the result of intensified intelligence-led operations, strategic deployment of personnel, and improved collaboration with other security agencies and members of the public,” Ikenga stated.
He added that all suspects would be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations.
