Casualties mount as police battle criminals in Delta

Akporua

A grim war is raging in Delta State. It is between law enforcement agents and deadly criminals.

The casualties keep mounting on both sides of the conflict, as the new Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikechukwu  Aduba, strives to rid the state of armed robbers and kidnappers.

Before Aduba’s bold move, robbers and kidnappers had laid siege to major towns in the oil-rich state, terrorising the people with impunity.

Kidnapped journalist

The civil society had risen to condemn the activities of the criminals. Various trade unions had gone on strike to mount pressure on the state government to tackle the seemingly insurmountable security challenge.

While medical doctors went on strike in protest against the abduction of Dr. Ngozi Chukwuebulim of the Warri Central Hospital, oil workers demanded the release of the Warri Area Manager of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, Mr. Williams Enoch.

The situation got so bad that even lawyers in the state, through the Warri branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, resolved not to defend kidnappers in court.

Petrol stations in Warri shut down and residents had to devise ways of staying safe, even if it meant closing shop as early as 5 pm everyday.

The Nigeria Union of Journalists planned a botched mass protest to show their dissatisfaction with the abduction of their own, Mr. Monday Whiskey.

We learnt that top government officials’ relations, including Mr. Tobechukwu Ochei, a sibling of the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, the sister of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, and the wife of the Commissioner for Basic Education, Prof. Patrick Muoboghare, were abducted by hoodlums in various parts of the state.

Policemen were killed at will by robbers and kidnappers, as the people found solace in prayers.

Akporua

The law enforcement agencies and government were at the receiving end of flak from members of the public for not doing enough to restore sanity in the state.

But, so far, Aduba’s continuous onslaught against the has succeeded in reducing the crime rate to an appreciable level.

In a meeting with journalists in Asaba, Aduba said a total of 44 suspected kidnappers were arrested in the state in April. The leader of a gang that kidnapped a journalist, James Otovwegbrise, aka Okporua, was arrested and remanded in prison custody.

Also, the killers of an Army officer, Uman Asufa, who was escorting the PPMC Manager to Abraka, were hunted down by the police. The deadly syndicate, comprising Ufuoma Akpofure, Osobase Osaze and Bishop Ogedegbe, were already perfecting plans to kidnap a stalwart of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, Chief Ayiremi Emami, before they were rounded up.

The gang was allegedly planning to abduct the politician and businessman for a ransom of N200m before nemesis caught up with them.

Aduba said the gangsters had been on the wanted list of the police, adding that Akpofure was the first to be arrested in Otefe-Oghara.

Osaze, a die-hard gunman, reportedly shot and killed even members of his own gang whenever they disobeyed him or during the sharing of loot.

The police boss said the criminals operated from their base in Benin City. He said, “Osaze, leader of the gang, had shot members of the gang, Peter Kpeki and others and dumped their corpses in the Ologbo River. He shot Akpofure at the back when they had a disagreement.

‘’You will notice that my strategies and roadmap upon assumption of duty about a month ago have continued to pay off.

“To God be the glory, the spate of armed robbery and kidnapping has gone down tremendously. It was a dogged fight against men of the underworld.

“So far, 44 kidnappers and 15 armed robbers have been arrested. Also, nine kidnappers and armed robbers have been killed in different gun duels with hoodlums in the last one month.

 “What is expected of me is fire for fire against armed robbers and kidnappers and this is an appropriate time to warn that my clinical approach will be very ruthless with the hoodlums.

 “I am overhauling the command. There will be presence of our men 24 hours across the nooks and crannies of the state and I have already ordered them to move out.

“I will continue to sanction divisional police officers. Once there are three cases of kidnappings and robberies in your area, I will move you. If you allow hoodlums to take over your station, I will move you out.”

 But this week was particularly bad for the state command, which seemed to have been regaining the ground lost to the robbers.

This was after a bloody attack in Ibusa left eight persons dead on Tuesday. However, the police later dislodged the gang.

Items recovered from the gang included one Audi 80 car marked JD 100 ABC, one AK 49 military riffle, three AK 47 riffles, 1416 rounds of ammunition, three vehicle number plates, 19 assorted handsets, assorted jewellery, $300, N27,260 and charms of various kinds.

Four kidnappers were also shot dead during a reprisal attack by the joint patrol team of the police at Issele Mkpitime in Aniocha North Local Government Area.

Three AK 47 rifles, pump action guns, 15 AK 47 magazines and 341 rounds of live ammunition, as well as six live cartridges and six Nokia cell-phones were recovered from the hoodlums in a separate raid.

But the command lost five of its men during a gun battle at Ibusa, in Oshimili North Local Government Area.

 A gang of eight armed robbers had attacked the security operatives in three separate locations and shot them. The slain policemen included the Divisional Police Officer in Abraka, Superintendent Stephen Chigbufue, and an Assistant Superintendent of Police, John Danladi, reputed to have busted many armed robbery gang operations in the state.

The robbers were said to have stormed Ibusa in a red Toyota Camry and a bus. They had moved straight to rob two commercial banks in the town.

In an attempt to arrest the criminals, the police had reportedly blocked the major exits from Ibusa with Armoured Personnel Carriers and laid ambush for them before the fierce exchange of gunfire ensued.

We gathered that Danladi, one of the security officers who was killed in the raid, had just been ordained a pastor at the Tree of Life Church, Ogwashi-Uku, a day before he was killed.

Angered by his death, some youths in the town immediately set the corpses of three of the robbers ablaze.

About 30 policemen have lost their lives in the war against armed robbery and kidnapping in the last few months.

A resident of Warri said, “This place was turned into a war zone of sorts as the robbers engaged policemen in a gun battle. I have never seen this kind of situation in real life before. It was like an American movie.

“But we must commend the police for rising to the occasion though they lost some men. The police blocked all the exit routes and confined the robbers within the town where the exchange took place.’’

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Charles Muka, who confirmed the deaths, said the police had intensified efforts to track down the other fleeing members of the gang.

But as the supremacy battle between the security forces and the men of the underworld rages, it remains to be seen who blinks first.

Residents of the state can only hope that it won’t be those people entrusted with the responsibility of securing them.