Delta police arrest 3 officers, army personnel over kidnapping, armed robbery
The Delta State Police Command has made major breakthroughs in the war against men of the underworld as it arrested suspected kidnap and armed robbery-kingpins terrorizing the state.
The suspects included three serving and one dismissed policemen who allegedly specialized in the hijack of trucks loaded with petroleum products at gunpoint and thereafter, rob the drivers and sell the products to some petrol station owners.
Also, a serving army officer, who allegedly heads a kidnap gang, was nabbed with other members of his gang that abducted a housewife in Asaba after robbing her of her car in Jesus Saves area of the metropolis.
The breakthroughs also included the arrest of two suspected leaders of killer herdsmen, responsible for serial herdsmen-community clashes and the killing of more than 10 persons in the state.
The claims in this regard were made by the state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr. Zanna Mohammed Ibrahim during a media briefing where the suspects were paraded alongside other criminal suspects arrested across the state.
The suspects, according to the police boss, equally included two women who operate a kidnap gang in Warri and its environs, and allegedly responsible for the recent kidnap of one Tessy Sakpara in Ovwian-Aladja area of the oil city.
Explaining the arrest of the suspects, the Police Commissioner said the serving police officers who were attached to the Delta, Imo and Edo state police commands, were arrested based on intelligence reports and that they allegedly operated in synergy to carry out their criminal activities.
In the same vein, the serving army officer attached to 301 Battalion, Gombe state was arrested with the stolen vehicle of one of their victims after they robbed and abducted her and took her and the vehicle to an unknown destination, adding that the officer was traced to Gombe where he was reportedly arrested driving the stolen vehicle.
The police boss said that the command will not shield any officer who committed crime, adding that the affected officers are always facing departmental investigation after which they will be dismissed if found guilty. He appealed to members of the police to expose any member of the force who operates aside the law and such case will be handled immediately.
The suspects that were over 60, including kidnapping, armed robbery, murder also included not less than 21 suspected cultists of different cult groups arrested in Kwale, Sapele, Ewu, Asaba and other part so f the state.
On herdsmen/community clashes, the police said that a lot of efforts are already in place to restore peace in the direction, adding that as a result of the measures, two heads of the killer herdsmen were arrested and been paraded today.
Nosa Akenzua, Asaba
