Anambra Police operatives serving at the Abagana Divisional Police Headquarters have arrested four suspects, including a 21-year-old lady, Chinenye Ekwenugo, from Ifitedunu, over the burning of a 74-year-old woman in a wheelchair at Abagana in Njikoka Local Government Area of the state.
The three other suspects include Uzochukwu Okeke, aged 47; Fidel Anayo, aged 60; and Ikenna Anene, aged 54, all from Abagana. The operatives also recovered the burnt remains of the deceased, her wheelchair, and a casket.
SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the State Police Public Relations Officer, disclosed this in a statement issued in Awka on Monday, stating that the arrest took place on January 26, 2024, at about 9 a.m.
According to him, during interrogation, the suspect Chinenye confessed that her boyfriend, Ifeanyi Igwe and three others set the victim ablaze and obtained a casket to bury her before the intervention of security operatives.
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Meanwhile, the operatives have initiated efforts to arrest the main suspect, Ifeanyi Igwe, who remains on the run.
The body of the deceased has been deposited in the morgue for autopsy and further investigation into the cause of death.
The Commissioner of Police, CP Nnaghe Obono Itam, while reacting to the incident, called for calm and ordered the immediate transfer of the case to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation Department for a comprehensive investigation. Updates will be provided as further developments unfold.
In another development, operatives of the Anti-Cult Unit of the Anambra State Police Command stationed at Enugwu Ukwu, acting on credible information on January 25, 2025, at about 1:30 p.m., arrested one Maduka Okoye, aged 25, from Abagana.
The team also recovered three expended cartridges from a pump-action gun at a shooting scene in the Ezichike community of Abagana.
The suspect, Maduka Okoye, confessed to being a member of the Baggars Confraternity and stated that he was in a beer parlour drinking with his friend when they came under attack by members of a rival cult group identified as the Axe Men Confraternity.
The Police responded swiftly and restored calm in the area. The suspect is currently assisting police operatives in their ongoing operation to arrest fleeing gang members and other identified members of the rival cult group, particularly those actively involved in the shooting.
Additionally, a joint security team comprising Police operatives from Oko Divisional Headquarters and AVG operatives in Amaokpala, acting on intelligence-driven information on January 25, 2025, at about 10:30 p.m., raided a criminal hideout at Umudike, Amaokpala in Orumba North Local Government Area.
Items recovered during the operation include a large quantity of substances suspected to be hard drugs, two mobile phones, and a cash sum of seventy-three thousand, one hundred and fifty naira (#73,150), suspected to be proceeds from drug sales.
The criminals fled into nearby bushes upon sighting the joint security team. Meanwhile, operatives have taken over the scene, destroyed the camp, and are working to ensure the criminals do not regroup anywhere in the state.
Furthermore, operatives of the Special Anti-Cult Squad, Enugwu Ukwu, at a security checkpoint on the Umudioka-Awkuzu road by Igbariam, on January 25, 2025, at about 5:38 p.m., arrested two of the four occupants of a white Toyota Corolla vehicle with registration number YAB 26 CB. The team also recovered one Beretta pistol, two live rounds of ammunition, and the Toyota Corolla vehicle.
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The two suspects, Raphael Peverga and Saakura Teryima, both aged 22 and from Benue State, are currently in custody. Efforts are ongoing to apprehend the two remaining suspects who are on the run.
Reports indicate that the suspects jumped out of the vehicle while it was still in motion when the operatives ordered them to park for a security search.
