The police in Anambra State have arrested four men who are alleged to be members of a criminal gang specialised in snatching tricycles and mobile phones in the state.
The police spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.
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Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, identified the arrested suspects as Chidera Nnaji, 19, Mmaduabuchi Chijioke, 21, Wisdom Ogbonna, 19, and Afamefuna Egbe, 20.
The spokesperson said the suspects were arrested on Monday by police operatives attached to Rapid Response Squad Awkuzu, who intercepted the suspects during the operatives’ night patrol along the Agu Awka/Ifite Awka Axis in the state.
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He said the gang specialises in robbing unsuspecting residents, particularly students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, of their phones and other valuables.
“Upon interrogation, the suspects confessed to being part of a criminal syndicate that specialises in robbing students within the Awka Axis.
“They further revealed that the multiple tricycle plate numbers found with them were usually used to disguise their operational vehicles whenever they embarked on armed robbery,” he said.
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Nine brands of phones, including a victim’s iPhone, a laptop, two tricycles, four different tricycle number plates and a substance suspected to be a hard drug, were recovered from the suspects, according to the police.
Mr Ikenga said the Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Ikioye Orutugu, has commended the operatives for the success of the operation.
Mr Orutugu urged youths in the state to desist from crime.
The police chief warned that the police in the state would not relent in ensuring that criminals are prosecuted in the state.
Robbery attacks
Like other states in the South-east, robbery attacks in Anambra State have increased in recent times.
Civil servants, business owners, politicians and even students have become targets of such attacks in the state lately.
Beyond the robbery attacks, gunmen said to be part of the Biafra agitation in the South-east have been terrorising residents of the region.
READ ALSO: Police operatives caught on camera counting naira notes suspected to be proceeds of bribery, extortion
Several persons, including security agencies and government officials, have been abducted or killed by the attackers.
The outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has been blamed for the frequent attacks in the South-east, but the group has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks.
IPOB is seeking the secession of the South-east and some parts of the South-south from Nigeria.
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