By Kamsi Anayo, Awka
In another major breakthrough under the ongoing Operation Udo Ga-Achị Zero Kidnapping, the Anambra State Police Command has arrested two suspected members of a deadly kidnap syndicate, including a female informant and a native doctor believed to be supplying criminal charms and weapons to the gang.
SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the Command’s Spokesman in a statement on Monday revealed that the suspects were arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad/Anti-kidnapping Unit, following intensified investigations into a high-profile kidnap incident in Nnewi.
According to him, the suspects, identified as 52-year-old Celestine Onuyia and 45-year-old Jacinta Okolo Udenka, both residents of Oba in Idemili South Local Government Area, were apprehended in connection with the July 2024 kidnapping of a victim for whom a whopping ransom of ₦17.5 million was paid before eventual release.
The PPRO said that during a search of their residence, security operatives recovered a significant cache of firearms and ammunition, including one pump-action gun, seven single-barrel dane guns, and twenty-eight live cartridges — signaling a well-coordinated and well-armed network.
He said that further intelligence obtained during interrogation led operatives on April 20 to a criminal hideout in Omasi, Ayamelum Local Government Area, where two AK-47 rifles and two empty AK-47 magazines were discovered and recovered, deepening suspicions of the duo’s involvement in a broader criminal operation.
According to him, preliminary findings allege that Onuyia is a native doctor who not only provided spiritual fortification for the gang but also served as the custodian of their weapons.
Okolo is believed to function as an informat.
