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By Christopher Oji
The Anambra State Police Command, at the weekend, arrested six members of a notorious killer gang that have been terrorising the Eziowelle community and its environs for a long period of time.
Weapons recovered from the notorious gang included three English pump action rifles and Beretta pistols, among others.
Daily Sun gathered that the suspects were involved in assassination, armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, and sundry crimes until the state Commissioner of Police, Echeng Echeng, received reports about their criminal activities in the area and gave a marching order that they must be fished out.
Police sources said members of the notorious gang had for long been using an illegal vigilance group to kidnap, rob, intimidate, kill and harass people in the community.
They were also alleged to have broken into homes of prominent individuals in the community, stolen their belongings, raped female victims, especially wives and daughters of prominent indigenes, and kidnapped others who would later be forced to part with huge sums of money as ransom.
It was gathered that a prominent man in the area who claimed to be a pastor also controls his own gang that has been indulging in criminal acts in Eziowelle with the tacit support of some leaders of the community who always claimed to have contacts with security agencies in both Anambra State and Abuja who would protect them.
A source said they made the town so hot that many indigenes, both in the country and in the diaspora, ran away from their homes for fear of being kidnapped and forced to pay ransom under the guise of being a vigilance group.
It was learned that some of their victims were not only abducted at midnight, but taken to offices of some security agencies, where they were tortured, harassed and intimidated into parting with huge sums of money to buy their freedom.
One of their victims was said to have been abducted from his house last year at midnight. The victim was said to have been taken to the office of a security agency in another town, where he was subjected to torture along with many others in an underground cell, and later brought before the police on trumped up charges.
The police, however, freed the man and others after carrying out thorough investigation into the case.
It was gathered further that when the report of their criminal activities was received by the Commissioner of Police, Echeng, he swiftly directed the Commander of Anti-Cult Unit in the state, Uche Noah, to swing into action and round up all the criminals involved in the nefarious acts.
Their operations reportedly paid off after Uche stormed the town, in an operation described as ‘unprecedented in execution’ and rounded up the suspects. This, according to sources, was after they gave the police team stiff resistance and confronted them with a hot exchange of firepower that lasted for hours.
It was gathered that the police team arrested six of their kingpins while others escaped with bullet injuries. Police sources said the operations would continue until the criminal elements were flushed out and their financiers rounded up to make Eziowelle a peaceful town.
Meanwhile, it was learned that decoy teams have penetrated the town and its environs and more arrests would soon be carried out.
The Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Tochukwu Ikenga, said, “yes, the operatives raided the Eziowellle community and we have six suspects in our custody. The operatives recovered three pump action guns, one Beretta pistol, ammunition, and other incriminating items. There are so many other operations going on in the state. We urge Anambrarians to sustain the tempo by giving us relevant information.”
