The Imo State Police Command has paraded 435 suspects arrested in various criminal offences ranging from Murder, Kidnapping, Armed Robbery, Terrorism, Advance Fee-Fraud, Cultism Activities, and stealing and receiving stolen properties, including killing the gang leader and other members of the terror group that kidnapped and murdered a retired Major General Richard Duru
The Command also recovered 48 different firearms and 552 various calibres of live ammunition in the course of intelligence-led operations, continuous raids of suspected criminal hideouts, and painstaking investigations during which 13 kidnapped victims were rescued unhurt and 10 snatched vehicles were recovered.
Briefing journalists on Thursday at the Imo State Command Headquarters in Owerri, Imo State Commissioner of Police, CP Aboki Benjamin, said that the remarkable breakthrough is the sequel to the proactive operational strategies and security measures adopted by the Command.
He said that among the operational feats achieved by the command’s tactical units and divisions is the bursting of a deadly kidnapping syndicate responsible for the abduction and the brutal murder of retired Major General Richard Duru.
He said that the late Major General was kidnapped last year along Bishops Court, Area 7 Orji/Uratta Owerri, and his black Mercedes Benz G.L. 450 car with registration number LND 826 NG was snatched by the deadly syndicate.
The CP said that they killed the victim after collecting a ransom of 50,000 US dollars from his family. They regretted that the unfortunate incident caused apprehension among the residents of the state.
He said that the ever-gallant operatives of the Command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit led by CSP Oladimeji Odeyeyiwa (i.e., the NPF Crime Buster of the Year) immediately commenced an intense manhunt for the criminal syndicates who are notorious on the Command’s wanted list and were able to terminate the reign of the terror group through sustained follow-up to diligently gathered intelligence, which led to the apprehension of the gang leader and other members of the terror group.
CP Aboki said that Chukwunonso Emmanuel, one of the suspects and a native of Uke in Idemili, North L.G.A. Anambra State, was arrested in Lagos while attempting to obtain a new plate number for the victim’s Mercedes Benz car.
According to CP, his confessions led to the arrest of two members of the gang, Okoroigwe Goodness, 24 years old, and Innocent Ogu, 54 years old, adding that the suspects confessed to the crime of kidnapping and murder of the retired Major General Richard Duru and equally confessed membership in the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Eastern Security Network (ESN).
He said that the suspects will certainly have their day in court upon the completion of the ongoing investigation.
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