Police arrest 2,785 crime suspects, dismantled Indigenous People of Biafra hideout
The Imo State Police Command has arrested 2,785 individuals for allegedly committing various criminal offences in the state, and also dismantled the hideout of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)
Penpushing reports that the Command Public Relations Officer Henry Okoye, confirmed this in a statement explaining that the suspects were arrested in multiple operations conducted in the past six months in the state.
The police spokesperson who is, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, added that the offences of the suspects included kidnapping, terrorism, murder, armed robbery, cultism, and child trafficking.
“These operations also resulted in the rescue of 58 kidnapped victims and 42 stolen children, many of whom have been joyfully reunited with their families,” he said.
Penpushing further reports that Okoye disclosed that police operatives, in one of the operations, dismantled a camp belonging to suspected members of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed militant wing, Eastern Security Network (ESN).
The spokesperson said police operatives dismantled the camp of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) at Njaba, a local government area in Imo State, during a raid adding that some notorious and wanted members were arrested during the operation.
Penpushing also reports that Okoye identified some of the arrested outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) members as Amechi Onyebuchi, (38) Ozioma Ihedoro(39), Cyprian Ikebana, (50), and Uchenna Opara (30).
‘These individuals were responsible for multiple attacks on security formations and public infrastructure in Njaba local government area. During interrogation, they confessed to the kidnap and murder of Emmanuel Oguzie, allegedly on the orders of a wanted ESN commander known as Asari. All the suspects will be arraigned in court upon completion of investigation’, he stated
Penpushing reports that the police said several arms and ammunition, including explosives, were recovered from the suspects, as well as recovery of two GPMGs, 14 pieces of AK-47, 20 pump-action guns, four fabricated rocket launchers, seven gas-cylinder explosives, locally made hand grenades, Biafran flags, and charms.
The Command Public Relations Officer explained that in another operation, police operatives arrested two suspected kidnappers and gave their identities as Uche Nwachukwu (24) and Chinonso Ozirim(32).
Penpushing further reports that he said the arrested suspects- believed to be members of a syndicate- allegedly kidnapped a resident, Anayo Iwuoha, on June 20, 2025 in his compound at Akabo, a community in Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State.
“The syndicate held the victim at Chinonso Ozirim’s residence, collecting a N2.2 million ransom before a joint operation by the Anti-Kidnapping Unit and local vigilantes led to his rescue and the arrest of the suspects. A manhunt is ongoing for their fleeing accomplices’, he said
Penpushing also reports that Okoye said, in a separate operation, police operatives arrested a suspected cultist, Chinazaekpere Ogbonna (36), who hails from Orlu, another local government area of the state.
The police spokesperson said Ogbonna is a suspected member of Vikings Confraternity and had been on the run for two years after the brutal murder of a man simply named “Pikin’, adding that three of Ogbonna’s unnamed gang members allegedly butchered Pikin whom they mistakenly identified as a rival cultist.
“He (Ogbonna) was recently apprehended by operatives of Orlu Division for burglary and stealing, but upon further profiling and transfer to the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, he was identified as one of the cultists involved in the heinous murder’, Okoye said.
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