Delta State Police Command has arrested suspected criminals for their involvement in armed robbery, car snatching and burglary.
The armed robbery suspects were identified as Blessing Atima, Destiny Okpako and Akpohirowhu Wisdom.
Before the arrest, Thenewsbearer learnt that Commissioner of Police, Olufemi Abaniwonda, had directed the special squad deployed to Ughelli to checkmate the activities of kidnappers and armed robbers in Ughelli, Warri, Sapele, and environs.
The command’s spokesman, SP Bright Edafe, who confirmed the arrest in a statement on Friday, June 7, said that on Wednesday, June 5, at about 5:45pm,the special squad acted on credible intelligence and successfully arrested three suspected armed robbers.
The special squad also recovered the weapons which were being used by the armed gang to terrorise innocent residents in Sapele.
According to the PPRO, “the team, led by ASP Julius Robinson, stormed Sapele Town on the said date and effected the arrest of one Blessing Atima, aged 23, of Jesse Community in Ethiope West Local Government Area of the state, found to be the gang’s leader.
“Also arrested were Destiny Okpako, aged 19, of Oviri-Okpe Community in Okpe LGA and Wisdom Akpohirowho, aged 20, of Jesse Community in Ethiope West LGA, all residents of Sapele town.”
Weapons recovered from the suspects included a Beretta pistol, a locally-made cut-to-size gun and three cutlasses.
Also recovered were phones and Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards belonging to victims.
Edafe said that one of their victims identified the suspects, with their valuables recovered from them.
He said that during interrogation, the suspects revealed that they had taken part in six of the armed robbery operations in Sapele.
Also, a suspected armed robber, Usman Bello, was arrested on Monday, June 3, at about 8:30am, when the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) operatives stormed an uncompleted building along Issele-Asagba Express Way.
The pursuit and arrest of the suspect, aged 40, followed credible information that some suspected robbers were sighted in the uncompleted building
Recovered from him was locally-fabricated Beretta pistol
Thenewsbearer gathered that the suspect, who was pretending to be a mentally unstable person, had been taken into custody.
In a similar vein, two suspected criminals, Amaechi Michael (42) and Ogochukwu Ogbode (38), said to have specialised in breaking into houses and shops, were arrested on Tuesday, June 4, at about 1pm.
Explaining what led to the arrest of the suspects, the Area Commander, Asaba, acted on intelligence report on the activities of some suspects.
They were said to have come from across the Niger to Asaba at night and broke into and loot the shops of their targeted victims.
The information led the Area Commander to immediately deploye undercover operatives who embarked on a discreet operation.
This eventually paid off when Micheal of Wuje Street, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and Ogbode of Aronomen, Enugu State, were arrested along DLA road, Asaba.
The spokesman said: “Preliminary investigations revealed that after breaking and looting the shops of their victims, they carried their proceeds from the crime to Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, to sell.
The PPRO stated that investigations would continue on the cases while efforts were ongoing to arrest the receivers of these stolen items.
Commending the police operatives for a job well done, CP Abaniwonda urged members of the public to always reach out to the command in cases of distress through any of the dedicated control room numbers or report to the nearest police station.
