Operatives of the Anambra State Police Command have arrested two suspected armed robbers linked to a proscribed secessionist group after a two-hour gun battle at Enugwu-Agidi Junction in Dunukofia Local Government Area of the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, in a statement on Thursday, said the arrest, occurred in the early hours of Wednesday after a gun duel with a five-man robbery gang.
He explained that police operatives attached to the Rapid Response Squad, Awkuzu, carried out the operation based on credible and actionable intelligence after laying an ambush for the five-man group of armed hoodlums.
Items recovered from the suspects include one T.06 rifle, two pump-action guns, 24 rounds of T.06 ammunition, 15 live cartridges, assorted criminal charms, one red cult beret and one black Toyota Highlander vehicle.
Ikenga further stated that one of the armed suspects, while in deep agony, confessed that the gang members were among those who launched an unsuccessful but repelled attack by police operatives on the convoy of the former Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, and also were among the striking squad of the Vikings Confraternity on a mission to retaliate the death of one of their members by a rival cult group.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Ikioye Orutugu, while commending the gallantry of the operatives, charged them to intensify efforts to arrest other gang members, particularly those who fled with gunshot injuries during the encounter.
The Command, while permitting hospitals and related medical facilities to admit anyone with gunshot wounds or related injuries, urged them to “endeavour to report such to the nearest police station immediately”.
