Anambra: POLICE ARREST COMMUNITY LEADER, OTHERS OVER FIREARMS

Anambra: POLICE ARREST COMMUNITY LEADER, OTHERS OVER FIREARMS

Detectives at the Force Criminal Investigations Department, FCID, Alagbon, Lagos, have arrested the President-General of Eziowelle community and Chairman of the security committee in Idemili North L.G.A, Anambra State, over unlawful possession of firearms.

A yet-to-be-confirmed number of automatic pump action guns with bags of cartridges were reportedly recovered from the arrested suspects.

One of the suspects was said to have revealed that their illegal arms and ammunition are stocked inside the palace of a ruler in the community.

Several other members of the community are also on the wanted list of the police for other offences bordering on managing unlicensed armed security outfit, the imposition of illegal taxes /levies, fraudulent diversion /conversion of community funds among others.

The arrest of the suspects was as a result of a petition forwarded to the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, by concerned stakeholders in the community represented by Messrs Felix Okafor, Emeka Akukwe and Emma Amankwu.

In the petition, the stakeholders alleged that the President-General in collaboration with others introduced all manner of levies including N1m burial tax before bereaved families could bury their dead.

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They also alleged that another N1m building tax was to be paid by any indigene, who wants to build in the community.

The petitioners further alleged that the suspects mobilized armed thugs to attack and unleash mayhem on residents and ostracised them from the community.

“Worse still, the payments were not receipted or accounted for but diverted to private pockets”.

It was gathered that based on the petition, the Inspector-General of Police, directed detectives at the Special Enquiry Bureau, SEB, to swing into action and they succeeded in arresting the President General and the Chairman of the security committee with other suspects on the run.

Police sources said that after the arrest of the suspects, persistent calls for their immediate release came from top police officers in Anambra State and Abuja; but for the insistence of the detectives that the suspects must be taken to Lagos with the weapons recovered from them for a thorough investigation.

However, sources said the suspects were granted bail barely 24 hours after their arrest based on threats from a top police officer in Anambra State, who was earlier conferred with a chieftaincy title by the suspects.

When contacted for comments, the Police Public Relations Officer, FCID, Alagbon, Lagos, ASP Niyi Ogundeyi, told our reporter: “I will contact the team leader of the unit investigating the case to speak with you. On my part, I will contact the Force Public Relations Officer in Abuja before speaking with you.”