The Imo State Police Command says it has dismantled part of an alleged arms supply network with the arrest of a man suspected of providing ammunition to kidnapping groups operating across the state.
Addressing journalists on Friday, Commissioner of Police Audu Bosso said the breakthrough came after investigators questioned previously arrested kidnapping suspects, whose statements allegedly led officers to the ammunition supplier believed to be based in Rivers State.
The command also confirmed the arrest of two men identified as suspected leaders of a kidnapping syndicate following an operation at a hideout in the Egbema River area. Police said a kidnap victim was rescued during the raid.
Bosso said, “Intelligence obtained from the rescue operation led to the subsequent arrest of the kingpins, and their confessional statements led operatives to the suspects’ hideout, culminating in the latest operation.”
Items recovered during the operation included an AK-47 rifle, magazines, various rounds of ammunition, locally made firearms, cartridges, a human skull and objects believed to be used for criminal rituals.
According to the police commissioner, preliminary findings also linked the suspects to the recent killing of two Imo State Homeland Security personnel during an attempted abduction in Owerri West.
He said, “Further investigation established that the same criminal gang was responsible for the killing of two personnel of the Imo State Homeland Security at Umuguma, Owerri West Local Government Area recently during an attempt to kidnap Mrs. Betty Oluchi Dike. Efforts are ongoing to apprehend other fleeing members of the syndicate.”
Bosso further disclosed that another intelligence-driven operation in the Obiakpu swamps led officers to a hidden cache of ammunition, where hundreds of live rounds and several rifle magazines were recovered.
He said, “In a related development, acting on credible intelligence, operatives of the Imo State Police Command stormed the Obiakpu swamps in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area, where they recovered an additional cache of 346 rounds of live ammunition, comprising 122 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 148 rounds of M16 rifle ammunition, and 76 rounds of 9mm Beretta pistol ammunition. The operatives also recovered seven magazines, comprising four AK-47 rifle magazines and three M16 rifle magazines.”
