Posted by By GEOFFREY ANYANWU, Awka on
The palpable peace, which returned to Anambra State after the joint police and military operation that saw the sacking of the troublesome members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) from Onitsha
The palpable peace, which returned to Anambra State after the joint police and military operation that saw the sacking of the troublesome members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) from Onitsha and all the parks in the state late last year, was recently punctured when robbers and kidnappers took the state by the storm.
The criminals, apparently, irked by security agents' raid of Onitsha and major cities, attacked police stations. They maimed and killed some policemen as well as set police stations ablaze. Others kidnapped a commissioner and her son as well as a businessman.
The days of horror lasted 10 days, during which the state was under siege.
Attacks on police stations
The latest terror started on January 20, 2006, when hoodlums, numbering about 30 and dressed in army camouflage and civil dress, invaded Oba Police post at about 1.05pm. They fired sporadically at the station and later set it ablaze.
According to the Commissioner of Police, Anambra State Police Command, Mr. John Haruna, the hoodlums were said to be members of a gang of armed robbers whose members were being detained in that station.
He said: 'On January 18, 2007 at about 1500hrs, two NCOs on investigation from Mbano Police station in Imo State, arrived Oba Police post in company of one informant/complaint, whose name is not yet known. They came with an information that brother of the informant/complainant, who returned from South Africa, visited their elder brother in Lagos, a friend of his, one Tochukwu ‘m' surname unknown, a native of Oba in Anambra State, met him at Lagos, both traveled to Anambra State sometime in September, 2006 on an undisclosed mission. Information also had it that, Tochukwu ‘m' and the complaint's brother went out on robbery operation with their guns.
'The gang had an encounter with the police. The brother to the complainant/informant was shot dead. The corpse was secretly buried by the gang members. Since then, the relations of the deceased robber became apprehensive/worried, phoned their brother at Lagos, enquiring about the whereabouts of the deceased robber. The elder brother confirmed that the deceased robber left Lagos with Tochukwu to Anambra State and had not been seen since then. The complainant/informant later made preliminary enquiry at Oba and located Tochukwu, who told him that is brother was involved in a fatal motor accident and burnt to ashes, hence there was no need searching for him.
'The complainant/informant lodged complaint at Mbano Police station against Tochukwu ‘m.' A strategy was mapped out to arrest Tochukwu ‘m' by inviting him to attend the burial of the alleged robber in Imo State. Tochukwu declined, but opted to finance the burial. He requested the complainant/informant to come to Oba and collect the sum of N30, 000. Consequently, two NCOs were detailed to accompany the informant/complainant to Anambra State.
'The team arrived Oba Police Post for assistance. A team of surveillance /anti robbery from Ojoto division, based at Oba Police post, led by Sgt. Emmanuel Shiriki, was detailed to render assistance. Same date, at about 1600hrs, the team left Oba to the meeting point, where the principal suspect Tochukwu ‘m' was arrested, while other members of the gang escaped. They abandoned a Mercedes Benz 190 with registration No. CU632.JJJ, which was later impounded. Tochukwu ‘m' was taken to Oba Police post for interrogation. The D/O Oba Police post quickly mobilized men, who escorted the suspect to Ojoto Police station for detention.
'On January 20, 2007, at about 010/5hrs, the escaped members of the gang, massively mobilized other members of the gang, numbering about 30 and dressed in Army camouflage / civil dress came to Oba Police post in two buses and one other vehicle. They fired sporadically at the station, with a view to liberating Tochukwu ‘m.' On discovering that their member was not in the cell, the bandits set ablaze the police post. As a result, the following items were brunt: one AK47 rifle, No. BA392972, exhibit Toyota Jeep Rev. 4, Reg. No. Lagos ED.379KJA, 25 exhibit motorcycle, station diaries. The robbers could not enter the station's armory. The following arms were intact, one pump action gun, No. G03168E with five cartridges, one Brownie pistol no. BA392972 with seven rounds.
'On January 20, 2007, at about 0215hrs, the gang arrived at Ojoto Police Station, in search of their colleague, Tochukwu ‘m.' The bandits opened fire on policemen on duty at the station. The police engaged the hoodlums in a gun duel. The firing power of the robbers was higher than that of the police. Consequently, the robbers broke the cell and released the suspect, Tochukwu ‘m,' fired sporadically at four rooms apartment/rank and file quarters, to scare away the policemen, set ablaze the police station. Items burnt include, police ALGON patrol Jeep with Reg. NPF3334B, exhibit, Mitsubishi pick up van, with reg. No. Anambra XB.542.ATN. The gang also carted away one AK.47 rifle No. BA358453 with 30 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition from the station charge room. Inspector Peter Onah, PC Clement Saturday and FC Victor James sustained serious bullet injuries. The injured policemen were rushed to the hospital for treatment.
'On same date at about 0400hrs, along Oraifite/Ozubulu road at Emeka Ofor Junction, same gang opened fired on Federal Highway Patrol team 104 on duty, injured Sergeant Jonah Acholo on the left arm, Sergeant David Otene on the left leg, a t the scene. The robbers set ablaze a Peugeot 504 with reg. No. KAE.6357, belonging to Inspector Eyong Arikpo, attached to Federal Highway Patrol".
As if that was not enough, another group of hoodlums on Wednesday, January 24, 2006 attacked Ezinifite Police station, which is at the boundary of Anambra and Imo State, killed an inspector, left the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) unconscious and again set the station ablaze.
Giving the account of the incident, CP Haruna said: 'We recorded a very sad incident at Ezinifite, which a division bordering Anambra and Imo on Wednesday, January 24, 2006. At about mid day, the police received a complaint. One Onyeka Orji reported at the Ezinifite Police station that a tipper was just about to pass the station conveying laterite belonging to him, stolen from his site. Two policemen; a corporal and a constable were detailed to go with him and arrest the suspect.
'They saw the tipper and flagged it down. The driver almost crushed them and they mounted motorbikes to pursue the driver, who was heading with full speed towards Imo State. At a point in time, they tried to use other motorcycle riders to stop him, but he drove dangerously out of Anambra State. The corporal decided to shoot at the tyre of the tipper to stop it from escaping. The bullet hit the driver.
'They made attempt to take the driver to the nearest hospital, but at that point people converged, many of whom were believed to be MASSOB miscreants that abound in that neighborhood. They did not wait to find out what happened. They went straight to the police station. The DPO and his officers were unaware of that development and this people swooped on them, damaged everything they saw, set the station ablaze.
They abducted the DPO, who is over 50 years of age and his station officer, equally over 50 years of age, took them to a forest, battered them, and broke the head of the inspector. He died instantly.
'By the time rescue team was raised by the Area Command to the location, they had done their worst. The DPO was taken unconsciously to hospital. So far, some suspects have been arrested in connection with the incident."
Abduction
While the police were still running around, over the incident at Ezinifite, the news of the kidnap of the state's Commissioner for Women Affairs, Dr. Mrs. Cordelia Ego Uzozie and her son, Kenechukwu at Nsugbe, filtered in. The redevelopment brought a huge responsibility on the already heavy shoulders of the police, which, together with the state government and other security agencies, swung into action to rescue the commissioner and her son.
Haruna had given assurance that the police would do everything possible to ensure that the woman and her son were rescued unhurt, just as he immediately deployed about 200 policemen drawn from the mobile unit and anti-robbery and special squads and also invited the military.
After four days of searching of major flash points and negotiation between government and the abductors, Mrs. Uzozie and his son were released in the early hours of Sunday, January 28, by the abductors, after a ransom was said to have been paid.
The joy of the release of the commissioner was short lived when news broke again that a multi-millionaire Nnewi businessman and auto spare parts giant, Chief Pius Ogbuawa, had been kidnapped in the morning of the same day.
Unlike Uzozie, who was going home from Nwafor-Orizu College of Education, Nsugbe with her son driving her, before she was abducted, Ogbuawa was said to be on his way to church when he was kidnapped and taken away in his Jeep car.
Reacting to the development, the state police boss, who was just being congratulated by the state governor, Dame Virgy Etiaba, for the manner they handled the rescue of the Uzozies, said the police knew the people responsible for the latest abduction, stressing that it was the same set of people.
He said: 'It Is quite unfortunate but we believe it is the same gang that is responsible. We have a general idea who they are, where they are and we are planning an operation jointly with the military and the SSS. We will get them, but we are also careful not to do anything that will endanger the life of whoever is held captive by them, but we have a very clear idea who they are."
Though Ogbuawa was released after two days, after the payment of the N20 million ransom demanded by the abductors, the whole state is still leaving in fears as the abductors were quoted as saying that they would kidnap more people in the state.
According to Ogbuawa, 'they said they have a comprehensive list of the prominent people, both politicians and businessmen who would be arrested soon and that they are not only in Anambra State but also have a network which cuts across the South East, South-South and Abuja areas and that they would come back for me if I failed to support the Igbo course."
CP's warning
Meanwhile, CP Haruna has warned that police would no longer watch as their men and officers are killed, saying, 'a situation where disgruntled elements, criminals, hiding under the guise of belonging to one community or the other unleash unimaginable terror on innocent policemen who sacrifice their lives to protect the people, should be discouraged and condemned.
'This is about the eight police station destroyed by hooligans in this state in the past one year. More than 28 policemen were killed in the past one year, in the same state under civilian administration.
'We will not fold our hands and allow this to continue. We are going to take measures to discourage youths, miscreants, and all categories of criminals from killing or attacking policemen who are on lawful duty," he said.