Nigeria police
Abia Police Command has impounded a large quantity of military
uniforms, allegedly imported from China and stocked at a warehouse in
Aba, the commercial hub of the state.
The State’s Commissioner of Police, Anthony Ogbizi, made this
disclosure at the Umuahia Central Police Station on Tuesday, while
briefing newsmen on the achievements recorded by the command in the
fight against crime and criminality within the last two weeks.
Mr Ogbizi said that the owner of the warehouse, one Michael Onuoha,
was arrested for alleged conspiracy, aiding and abetting the unlawful
procurement, importation and possession of the uniforms, which were
mainly camouflage.
He alleged that the Managing Director of Messrs U.U Iruoha, one
Uche Iruoha, popularly called Urchman, shipped the uniforms in a
container to Apapa Port, Lagos, from where they were transported to Aba
in March.
The police commissioner said that Onuoha was arrested on Aug. 16 but that Iruoha was still in China.
Brig.-Gen. Abubakar Ibrahim, the Commander, 14 Brigade of the
Nigerian Army, Ohafia, who accompanied the police boss at the briefing,
said that the army was worried by the development.
Ibrahim said that it was disturbing that unscrupulous persons wear military uniforms and camouflage to commit crimes.
He said that the organisation was collaborating with the police and
other security agencies to check the phenomenon and ensure that
perpetrators were arrested and brought to book.
In a related development, the police also arrested two officials of
a new generation bank in Umuahia for alleged conspiracy to defraud a
high profile customer of the bank.
The suspects, which included a Marketer, Mr Promise Nwangene, and
Customer Service Officer, Kenneth Ebereonu, were alleged to have
collected the bank account details of the customer, names withheld,
including the Bank Verification Number and Automated Teller Machine,
which they posted online.
The police commissioner said “their intention was to begin to steal
the N1 million in the account but nemesis caught up with them.”
He alleged that Nwangene “in a bid to pass the information to his
accomplice, Kenneth, mistakenly sent it to a WhatsApp group chat, where
it was intercepted by a friend of the customer, who alerted the
management of the bank.”
Mr Nwangene told newsmen that they collected the bank details in
order to reactivate the account for the owner and that no fraud was
intended.
He said that he saved the information to be able to access it for
the reactivation of the account but “mistakenly” posted it online.
To further diffuse the allegation of fraud, the two suspects said
that no money had been removed from the account since July 1, when the
information was posted, to date.
“We would have started removing money from the account or eloped since July 1, if the intention was to commit fraud,” they said.
Also in police net were a 65-year-old iron bender, Mr Chukwuma
Orji, and two others, arrested in connection with the alleged kidnap of
Dr. Innocent Iwegbu, a medical doctor with the Federal Medical Centre,
Umuahia.
Mr Ogbizi said that one of the suspects, Ikechukwu Ogbonna, who
confessed to the crime, said that Orji, who lived close to the victim,
allegedly availed the gang with the information that led to his kidnap.
He said that police busted the gang with the assistance of the
people of Ohokobe Ndume community, near Umuahia, where the victim was
held hostage in a hideout.
The gang had demanded N5 million ransom from the relatives of the doctor before he was rescued on Aug. 16.
The command also arrested four robbery and rape suspects for
allegedly terrorising the Ohuhu communities, near Umuahia, with machete
and other dangerous weapons.
They were alleged to have broken into the house of one Mrs Osinachi
Stephen in the area, where they allegedly gang raped her and dispossed
her of her valuables.
Mr Ogbizi also said that the command recovered a Toyota Camry,
which was snatched from the owner, one Mr Augustine Uchenna, at a
gunpoint in Umuahia.
He said that two suspects, Kalu Kalu and Ndubuisi George, were arrested in connection with the theft of the vehicle.
He said that the police also recovered N385,000 being part of
N695,000 allegedly snatched from one Nnamdi Nwosu by robbers, said to be
operating in a stolen tricycle (Keke Napep).
The police boss said that Nwosu was on his way to deliver the money
from his master to somebody at Umuobasi Village in Umuahia before he
was attacked.
He said that the robbers chopped off Nwosu’s finger, when he attempted to resist them.
He said that the command had also recovered the stolen tricycle.
Mr Ogbizi appealed to residents of the state to be vigilant and
assist the police with relevant information that could help in crime
reduction.
He said that the command would not rest on its oars but would sustain the war against violent crimes in the state.
He said that the suspects would be arraigned at the end of the ongoing investigation.
-NAN