By Kamsi Anayo
The Violent Crime Response Unit of the Anambra State Police Command has uncovered and destroyed an armoury belonging to suspected separatist gunmen at Owerre-Ezukala community in Orumba South Local Government Area of the state.
The operation, led by Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Orebe Chidubem Matthew, followed intelligence obtained from a member of the gang currently in police custody.
SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the State Police Command Spokesman in a statement on Thursday disclosed that the camp had previously been dislodged by a Joint Task Force on security operations.
However, some members of the gang who escaped during the earlier raid reportedly regrouped and attempted to resume operations.
The items recovered from the armoury include one General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) with about 2,000 rounds of live chain ammunition, two fabricated rocket launchers with 25 propellers.
Others are ten locally-made Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), one locally-made Beretta pistol, two pump-action guns, three hand grenades, ten rounds of K2 live ammunition, one gas cylinder, and one black Ecolac box.
“Recall that the camp was earlier destroyed by a Joint Security Team. Before the confession by the suspect in custody, intelligence had been received over time on how some escaped gang members were attempting to regroup.
“However, operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit resisted and dismantled the camp following a gun duel with the unrepentant members,” Ikenga stated.
He further stated that some of the armed suspects fled the scene with varying degrees of bullet injuries sustained during the exchange of gunfire.
Further investigations revealed that the suspect in custody confessed to involvement in several violent attacks across Anambra State, including attacks on police facilities and killing of security personnel comprising police, military, and civil defence officers.
Others are attacks on government facilities, and the murder of security operatives on stop-and-search duties on various roads in the state.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu, stressed that with the establishment of the Violent Crime Response Unit, operatives of the command are now better positioned and more motivated to sustain offensive operations against criminal elements threatening the peace and security of the state.
