Police arrest suspected cultists who allegedly killed two officers

Police arrest suspected cultists who allegedly killed two officers

The Police in Anambra State said they have arrested suspected cultists who allegedly attacked a vigilante group at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.

The Force’s spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, who confirmed this in a statement on Wednesday said the gunmen carried out the attack on Tuesday.

Mr Ikenga said the gunmen were the same cultists that killed two police officers and carted away their two AK-47 rifles during an attack on the chairman of the Tricycle Owners Association, near UNIZIK junction on December 14.

He said police operatives laid ambush for the cultists after their latest attack on the vigilante group.

“The effort paid off as police succeeded in demobilising the gang and recovering of a cache of weapons which included the two AK-47 rifles earlier stolen from the two policemen murdered on 14 December, 2021,” the police spokesperson said.

Mr Ikenga said police operatives killed the gang leader, identified as Uchenna Nwobu, also known as ‘Anali’, and arrested one other member of the gang during the operation.

He said the police received a tip on March 15 on the cult group attack on the UNIZIK vigilante group.

The police, in collaboration with other security agencies, arrested several of the gang members allegedly responsible for deadly attacks across the state in the past two weeks, the police spokesperson said.

Mr Ikenga, a deputy superintendent of police, regretted that several gun attacks have been recorded in the state in recent times. He, however, said the police were determined to stem the tide.

“These serious incidents motivated the command in going the extra mile in intelligence-gathering and discreet investigation,” he said.

Three locally made pistols, one locally-made chief recovery pistol, Nine AK-47 magazines, two battle axes and a Mercedes Benz car were among other items recovered from cultists during the operation, Mr Ikenga said.

“Investigation is ongoing (and is) aimed at tracking down other members of the gang and establishing the rightful owner of the recovered car,” he said.