The Anambra State Police Command has captured a 43-year-old suspected kidnapper, Kalu Okafor, believed to be linked to a proscribed secessionist group.
The arrest was carried out by the Rapid Response Squad in Awkuzu during an intelligence-driven operation in the Okpoko area of Ogbaru LGA early Wednesday.
According to police spokesperson Tochukwu Ikenga, Okafor was tracked down following revelations by a detained gang member, Chukwudi Nwakpa.
Nwakpa reportedly confessed that the group routinely handed their firearms to Okafor for safekeeping after each kidnapping operation. He also allegedly acknowledged receiving a share of ransoms collected from victims.
During the raid, operatives recovered a cache of weapons and gear, including an AK-47 rifle, a pump-action gun, two AK-47 magazines, 88 rounds of live ammunition, and face masks used during operations.
Ikenga said the suspect is now assisting investigators in identifying and apprehending other fleeing members of the gang, with the possibility of uncovering more weapons. Updates, he added, will be released as the operation progresses.
Okafor’s arrest comes shortly after police apprehended another suspected member of the same proscribed group, Emmanuel Osuigwe, in Ozubulu, Ekwusigo LGA, following a raid on a criminal hideout in Ukpor, Nnewi South.
The police command noted that these breakthroughs were part of intensified surveillance and coordinated raids ordered by the Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu, to dismantle criminal networks across the state.
