The Imo Police Command says it has dislodged a notorious kidnapping syndicate operating within the Egbema River creek and rescued three abducted victims unharmed.

The state commissioner of police, Audu Bosso, disclosed this on Wednesday in Owerri while addressing journalists on the command’s achievements between May and June.

Mr Bosso said the development followed the arrest and confessions of two principal kidnapping kingpins, Confidence Vitalis, 28, and Ishiaya Rejoice, 32.

He said operatives used intelligence from the detained ringleaders to raid the waterfront camp, noting that seven additional suspects were captured during a fierce gun duel.

According to him, the rescued victims have positively identified the detained suspects as the direct perpetrators of their traumatic abductions.

The commissioner said police investigations linked the same criminal gang to the brutal murder of two Imo State Homeland Security personnel on May 16.

“The officers were killed in Umuguma while successfully preventing the syndicate from kidnapping a prominent citizen, Mrs Betty Oluchi Dike,” he said.

Mr Bosso said that in a related raid on July 7, police stormed the Obiakpu swamps, recovering a cache of 346 rounds of live ammunition.

He said recovered military-grade hardware included specialised magazines for AK-47 and M16 assault rifles hidden inside the swampy terrain.

Providing a broader briefing, Mr Bosso said the command detained 184 suspects for various violent crimes within the two months.

“The suspects are currently being processed for offences including terrorism, armed robbery, cultism, vehicle theft, and gruesome murder,” he said.

The commissioner said the state crackdown also netted suspected sexual predators, including a 58-year-old man who allegedly abused two 15-year-old job seekers.

“Additionally, a 19-year-old youth, Chijioke Johnson, was apprehended for the forced defilement of an eight-year-old girl in Ngor-Okpala.

“General items recovered across the state include multiple assault rifles, stolen luxury SUVs, charms, and a human skull,” the police spokesperson said.

Mr Bosso assured the public that aggressive, intelligence-led operations would continue until all remaining criminal networks are completely dismantled.

(NAN)