Harvest of Ammunition: Delta Police Recovers over 3000 Live Cartridges, Dynamites, Parades 35 Crime Suspects

By Miracle Enuji

The Delta State Police Command has scored a huge point in its effort to reduce the level of crimes in the state and frustrate the proliferation of arms and ammunition by gun runners.

This was evident during the parade of 35 crime suspects on March 1, 2018 at the State Police Headquarters in Asaba which also witnessed the display of recovered arms, explosives and large cache of live cartridges.

One of the huge breakthroughs as paraded by the State Police Command, is the case of a Clergy who is alleged to be a member of a kidnapping syndicate, a gun runner and peddler of prohibited drugs.

The suspect, Rev. Ignatius Ogboi, 51yrs of No.1 Ignatius Close Umunede in Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta state, was arrested by the State Anti-Kidnapping and Cyber Crime Squad (SAKCCS).

His case file read, “following information received through discreet Intelligence gathering that one Ignatius Ogboi, a business man and Pastor of Salvation Army Church Mbiri, Ika North East LG, Delta State who specializes in sponsoring kidnapping/armed robbery operations within Agbor, Umunede and its environs, operatives of SAKCCS Asaba led by the O/C, stormed his residence with a duly signed search warrant, arrested him and recovered a loaded English Made double barrel gun, three thousand eight hundred and seventy one live cartridges, some prohibited drugs and undisclosed amount of money believed to be ransom collected from victims. Case is still under investigation.”

Responding to Journalists interrogations, Rev. Ogboi denied membership of any criminal group and absolved himself as a supplier of arms and ammunition. He claimed that the cache of ammunition recovered from him, was purchased for the Vigilante Unit in Umunede and controlled drugs was for his wife, who he said is facing medical challenge.

The Cache of Arms and Ammunition Recovered from Rev. Ignatius Ogboi

However, when pressed further for details, he admitted the crime of being in possession of ammunition which is beyond his legal rights and said that the cash of over Four Million Naira found in his residence, were proceeds from his pharmacy business.

Another success case is the recovery of firearms, ammunition and dynamite from four suspected armed robbers cum kidnappers in Jesse, Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State.

The case file of the four suspects who later lost their lives in an attempt to flee Police nets read, “On 22/2/2018, at about 1500hrs, the Divisional Police Officer Jesse Division received information that suspected hoodlums using an Audi 80 car with Reg. No. KPE 456 AA entered into Jesse town. Consequently, patrol teams went on trail of the hoodlums. The vehicle was sighted parked at Mission Road Jesse, while the three occupants were met drinking in a Kiosk nearby. On sighting the patrol men they took to their heels. They were given a hot chase during which one of them was shot while others escaped. On searching the vehicle, three AK 47 rifles with breach Nos. 5011527, 58485, 56651, 193 rounds of 9.6mm live ammunition and two dynamites were recovered.The injured suspect gave up the ghost at the hospital while the case was transferred to Area Commander’s Office Sapele for further investigation.

Recovered Ak 47 Rifles, Ammunition And Dynamite by Delta State Police

“Following the trail of the escaped suspects, detectives attached to Area Commanders’ Office, Sapele arrested three additional suspects who confessed to the crime and further revealed that they planned to kidnap a timber business woman, one Elizabeth Igboyo of Jesse town. The suspects volunteered to lead the detectives to arrest their cohorts. However, while on the way, they attempted to escape, but they were shot, re-arrested and rushed to Central Hospital Sapele where they later died while receiving treatment.”

In his address while welcoming journalists to the enlarged parade of crime suspects, the Delta Police Commissioner, Muhammad Alhaji Mustafa, mni, said that, the parade is to showcase some of the Command’s achievements in crime control and management in the state.

Mustafa noted that the success recorded so far is a credit not only to the Police, but to all well-meaning persons who have been assisting us by providing us with timely and useful information in the fight against criminal elements in the state. It is equally important to acknowledge and appreciate the collaborative efforts of sister security agencies.

The Police boss disclosed that a total of 16 kidnap suspects, 7 suspected cultists, 4 armed robbery suspects, 3 murder suspects and 5 other crime suspected were arrested within the period under review.