The Enugu State Police Command presented 92 suspected criminals captured between August and September 2023 on Tuesday.
During his first press conference as Enugu state commissioner of police, CP, Kanayo Uzuegbu on Tuesday, he said that 12 abducted victims had been rescued from different parts of the state during the time period under review.
The defendants were arrested on multiple charges, including cultism, robbery, murder, kidnapping, and illegal gun ownership, as reported by the CP.
The police chief said that the suspects’ stash included four AK-47s, 66 other guns, 333 rounds of live ammunition, 25 vehicles, and various other incriminating goods including charms and phones.
He stated, “On September 24, 2023, at approximately 6.30 p.m., at the Nokpa/Ezimma Nike boundary point, Police Operatives from the Abakpa and Trans-Ekulu Police Divisions, with assistance from the Neighbourhood Watch Group, arrested one Kelechi Okwara, aged 27, of Ohafia, Abia State, after acting swiftly in response to credible information. The suspect lives in a residence in Trans-Ekulu Enugu with his brother who is currently at large and works as a security guard, according to preliminary inquiry.
The defendant has admitted to plotting with his brother to abduct his master’s mother-in-law, nanny, and infant on September 23, 2023, at around 8 p.m., and take them to an undisclosed location. That they held the master hostage and extracted a ransom of three million Nigerian naira (N3,000,000.00), which they used to purchase a red Toyota Corolla, which was later recovered after his capture.
The perpetrators’ Toyota Camry was also found earlier, which they used to flee in after kidnapping the victims. The probe is continuing in secret.
