Christopher Isiguzo in Enugu
Two months after the country home of the President General of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo was bombed, the police in Enugu yesterday paraded two persons suspected to have participated in the attack.
The police also paraded nine other suspects for alleged involvement in other criminal activities.
Parading the suspects at the state police headquarters, the Police Commissioner, Danmallam Mohammed, disclosed that the bomb attack on Nwodo’s house on April 29, 2018, was carried out by members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
He said the two suspects – one Ekene Okechukwu who hails from Ubahu Ekwusigo Local Government Area (LGA) of Anambra State and Alagba Gabriel from Mgbo in Ohaukwu Council Area of Ebonyi Sate, were arrested through intelligence information in connection with the bomb attack. They were said to have sent threat messages to the Nwodo’s mobile phone after the attack.
Danmallam said Ekene was arrested on June 6, at New Haven axis of Enugu, while Alagba was arrested on June 14, at Okokomaiko, Lagos.
The police commissioner also paraded a Deputy Superintendent of Prisons (DSP) Collins Ugwu, a serving Prison officer at the Headquarters of Nigerian Prison Service, Abuja, alongside with his gang members – one Ifeanyi Ozor and Osetu Smart for alleged conspiracy, armed robbery and stealing.
The Commissioner stated that DSP Ugwu was the leader of the gang that specialises on monitoring bank customers that make withdrawals and trail them to a point where they smartly force the door or smash the windscreen and steal the money.
“The gang also buys goods from traders and generate fake payment alert to the owner of the goods,†he said.
The Commissioner also paraded one Michael Anthony from Amachara Mpu in Aninri council area for alleged rape and murder.
He said the suspect on May 13, 2018 raped an 18 -year- old, one Miss Ifunanya Ugwu, an SS-2 student and strangled her to death to cover his crime.
“The suspect however, abandoned the lifeless body of the victim inside the bush and escaped before he was arrested by operatives of the Aninri police division,†he added.
One Nzube Owunna from Abia state, Eze Ikechukwu and Amagi Elijah from Ebonyi State, were paraded for conspiracy, burglary/stealing and armed robbery. The commissioner said they were arrested on June 26, Other suspected criminals paraded before incude, Okechukwu Solomon and Umoke Chukwuemeka. They were arrested for the vandalisation of Radio Nigeria Enugu Transformer armoured cables at the transmission station in Ngwo Miliken Hill Enugu on June 25, 2018.
Danmallam said the suspects would be charged to court after investinvestigations have been concluded.
Meanwhile, while other suspects confessed to have committed various offences they were alleged to have committed, the two suspected IPOB members denied any involvement in the alleged bombing of Nwodo’s house at Ukehe. Alagba Gabriel stated that he only sent threat messages to Nwodo, while Ekene Okechukwu denied any involvement in the alleged offence stressing that a phone he lost about three months earlier was allegedly used to send threat messages to Nwodo.
