Delta: Police rescue five kidnap victims, arrest 77

Delta Police Command has intensified its onslaught against criminals across the state, arresting 77 suspects, rescuing five kidnapped victims, and recovering N4.1 million ransom, 13 firearms, and 591 rounds of ammunition and cartridges within the month of October 2025.

Commissioner of Police, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda, who disclosed this during a press briefing at the Command Headquarters, Asaba, said the breakthroughs were achieved through intelligence-led policing, swift response to distress calls, and collaboration with community vigilantes.

He explained that the command’s focus on proactive and intelligence-driven operations had led to the dismantling of several kidnap, cultism, and gunrunning syndicates operating within and outside the state.

Abaniwonda said operatives of the Obiaruku Division, acting on a distress call from Obinomba community on November 1, engaged a gang of suspected kidnappers in a gun duel, during which one suspect was fatally wounded and an abducted woman was rescued unhurt.
Recovered from the scene were one AK-47 rifle, a magazine, and twelve live rounds of ammunition.

The CP also revealed the arrest of a notorious arms peddler, Ahmed Ibrahim (31), and a female accomplice, Jamila Abubakar, by the Command’s Special Assignment Team (CP-SAT) in Warri.
Recovered from the suspects were 115 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 220 SMG rounds, and 32 live cartridges. The police also seized ₦550,000 suspected to be proceeds of illicit transactions.
Abaniwonda said Ibrahim had long been on the Command’s watch list for allegedly supplying weapons to bandit groups and being linked to several high-profile kidnapping cases.

In another operation, operatives of the Special Anti-Kidnapping and Cybercrime Squad arrested three suspects in Anambra State over the abduction of two persons in Asaba on October 3.
The suspects — Ndianefo Cypre (60), Onwe Sunday (49), and Uzoma Ifeanyi (30) — were tracked through their bank details, leading to the recovery of ₦4.1 million ransom money.

At the Ubeji community in Ekpan, operatives rescued three kidnapped men from the Jeddo community and arrested seven suspects, all bearing the same family name, Omone, aged between 25 and 34.
Abaniwonda said the operation followed a coordinated cordon of an abandoned building where the victims were held.

In Aviara, Oleh Division operatives arrested two suspected Eiye cultists after a viral video of their activities circulated on social media. Searches led to the recovery of two locally made guns and six live cartridges.
Similarly, a suspected gunrunner, Mordi Emmanuel (45), was intercepted on the Asaba–Benin Expressway with a fabricated Beretta pistol, a pump-action shotgun, and eight live rounds.

In another development, operatives of the Crack Squad arrested two drug dealers, Igwe Samson (33) and Abalum Sunday (39), in Effurun GRA, seizing 450 bottles of codeine syrup, 188 bottles of bargadine, and hundreds of tramadol and swinol sachets.

Operatives of Bomadi Division arrested a 62-year-old woman, Charter Timide, conveying 178 live cartridges concealed in a sack along the Bomadi–Tuomo Road.

Also, in Ibusa, one Okechukwu Okwudili (45) was arrested with a pump-action gun, cartridges, and fetish items during a raid on a suspected cult hideout.

According to CP Abaniwonda, the Command’s operational summary for October 2025 includes: firearms recovered, 13; ammunition/cartridges recovered, 591; kidnapped victims rescued, 5;
suspects arrested, 77; vehicles recovered, 3; ransom recovered, N4.1 million.

The Commissioner commended his officers for their diligence and urged Deltans to remain vigilant, report suspicious movements, and support the police with credible information.

“We are committed to ensuring that every part of Delta State remains safe. Crime has no hiding place under our watch,” Abaniwonda assured.

He added that efforts were ongoing to apprehend fleeing suspects and recover additional weapons linked to the various syndicates.