Police Arrest Five Suspects over Attack on Soludo

Police Arrest Five Suspects over Attack on Soludo

By David-Chyddy Eleke

The Anambra State Police Command has arrested five suspects in connection with the attack on a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Chukwuma Soludo.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Monday Bala Kuryas, has also visited Soludo and ordered security to be beefed up around him.

Spokesperson of the Anambra State Police Command, Mr. Toochukwu Ikenga, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said in a statement yesterday that four more suspects had been arrested after an earlier arrest of a suspect.

He said: “Police operatives attached to Anambra State Command today, April 1, 2021, arrested four additional suspects in connection with the recent attack and gruesome murder of three policemen at Isuofia Civic Centre in Aguata LGA of Anambra State.

“The suspects, who are all male, include: Mbah Victor, aged 30 years; John Olisakwe, aged 21 years; Chigozie Omeh, aged 20 years and Emmanuel Nnobi, aged 28 years.

“The suspects confessed to have actively taken part in the attack and subsequent abduction of the Commissioner for Public and Utilities, Mr. Emeka Ezenwanne, who the command is working assiduously to rescue.”

Ikenga said efforts were still on going to apprehend other accomplices, to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident and bring perpetrators to book.

He also quoted Kuryas as reiterating his commitment to ensure the security of Anambra residents.

Kuryas urged the public not to relent in providing information to assist the police to curb crimes.

Ikenga, in an earlier statement, had said one suspect had been arrested in connection with the attack.

Ikenga, however, did not disclose the identity of the suspect.

But a source told THISDAY that the suspect was tracked down and arrested after his mobile phone was found at the scene of the attack where three policemen were killed.

“One of the killers forgot his phone at the scene of the attack, and we found it when the CP visited the place. We tracked down the owner and arrested him, and he is helping us with investigation,” the source added.

The source stated that the three slain policemen were still alive when the commissioner visited the scene of the attack on Wednesday.

“As at the time the CP arrived the scene of the attack, the policemen were still moving. One of them was even muttering something, but we could not hear him. They were certified dead at the hospital,” the source said.

Ikenga said: “CP Kuryas visited the scene of the attack on Wednesday night with a crack team of police operatives for an on-the-spot assessment to the venue, where the APGA governorship aspirant held a stakeholders/ community meeting at Isuofia Civic Centre in Aguata LGA.

“The police operatives led by the command CP also visited the former CBN governor to reinforce the security in his house and the community entirely.

“In his response, he (Soludo) thanked the commissioner and his team for the quick response.

“To this end, the CP while condemning the act, commiserates with the family and friends of the officers who paid the supreme price. He has ordered the immediate launch of a tacit investigation to unravel the mystery behind the incident as well as bring perpetrators of the barbaric act to book.

“He also called on the good people of Ndi Anambra to join hands in the fight against crime and criminality,” Ikenga said.

Meanwhile, THISDAY gathered that police officers and men in Anambra State have been directed to stop wearing their uniform to work to reduce the risk of attacks on them.

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