The Delta State Police command has confirmed the arrest of six people suspected to be members of an armed robbery gang who also specialised in kidnapping and posing as vigilante/hunters in Ekpan, Uvwie LGA of the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bright Edafe, confirmed the arrest in a press release signed and forwarded to newsmen in the state.
He said the hoodlums were caught on December 15, 2022, at about 2000hrs, when police operatives attached to Ekpan Police station deployed on patrol along Jakpa road, intercepted a Toyota Sienna space bus, without a registration number, conveying six male occupants.
The policemen subjected them to a search during which three pump action guns, four locally made guns, one long axe, seven expended cartridges, nine live cartridges, charms, three cutlasses, and two number plates were recovered from them.
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According to Edafe Bright, “The suspects, Aaron Okorigwe ‘m’ aged 27yrs and five others could not give a reasonable account of themselves and were taken into custody.
“Investigation later revealed that they were hoodlums who operate under the guise of being members of a hunters group from Ovwian Aladja, but sneak into Ekpan community in a Sienna vehicle, rob and kidnap unsuspecting persons. After robbing them, they run to hibernate in Ovwian Aladja.
“Following these findings, on December 16, 2022, the DPO invited three victims (names withheld), all of whom were at various times victims of armed robbery, and kidnapping in the area, and placed the suspects on an identification parade, the victims identified the suspects as the syndicate that robbed and kidnapped them”, the PPRO added.