From Ben Dunno, Warri
Policemen attached to Delta state Command have recorded another major breakthrough in its crime-fighting efforts, following the invasion of a notorious criminal hideout where two suspected members of an armed robbery/Kidnapping gang that had terrorized residents of Udu, Uvwie and Warri metropolis were neutralized.
Making this disclosure in a statement made available to newsmen in Warri, yesterday, the Command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Edafe Bright, noted that the police team carried out the raid based on intelligence gathering on the nefarious activities of the gang members in recent time.
He said acting with reliable information, two members of the dreaded gang were sighted in a club within the Udu council area, and a team from the Ovwian Aladja Division was immediately dispatched to the location to apprehend them.
According to him; “The DPO CSP Aliyu Shaba swiftly mobilized and led the operation of the police operatives that stormed the club where one of the suspects was arrested”.
“The suspect upon interrogation confessed to being a member of an armed robbery/kidnapping gang. He then led the operatives to their hideout in Udu where the police operatives were engaged in a serious gun duel by his gang members”.
“While one of the suspects was neutralized by the operatives during a gun duel with the criminals, the other suspect arrested at the club who also sustained the fatal injury during the crossfire, gave up the ghost before he could get to the hospital,” he said.
“Recovered from the hideout were; One AK47 rifle and twenty-seven (27) rounds of 7.62 ammunitions and phones”.
He said the police had commenced the manhunt for the other fleeing members who managed to escape during the invasion of the hideout.
“Similarly, operatives of raiders squad deployed to Oghara on directives of the CP, on 29/01/2023 raided a suspected cultists hideout at the back of Oghara Grammar school and recovered one AK47 rifle, one double barrel gun and cartridges.
“In another development, sequel to the incessant complaints received by the Command on the activities of hoodlums who break into people’s houses and steal their generators, the Commissioner of Police Delta State, CP Ari Muhammed Ali, issued a marching order to DPOs especially within the Asaba metropolis to fish out the perpetrators or risk being removed as a DPO.
“Acting on this directives, the DPO GRA gathered intelligence that led to the arrest of one Titus Sunday ‘m’ aged 49yrs.
“During interrogation, the suspect confessed to being part of the syndicate that specializes in stealing generators within the Asaba metropolis, and he led operatives to Awka, where one 220KVA generator stolen along Mariam Babangida way Asaba was recovered”.
“The suspect on 29/01/2023 also led operatives to their hideout in Asaba, and seven other suspected stolen sound-proof generators were also recovered. Manhunt for the other members is ongoing,” he stated.