By OKONKWO EZE,ONITSHA

THe Police in Anambra State, seem to be on the war path with criminals ranging from armed robbers, assasins, kidnappers and even fraudsters who have succeeded in creating black spots and hideouts where they carry out their nefarious activites daily.  These dangerous spots dot every nook and cranny of the state.

Following this development, the police have declared total war against these criminals who have constantly launched their onslaught against law-abiding citizens in the state.

The situation has gotten to an extent that hardly a day passes without hearing of one crime or the other taking place in some parts of the state.

Black spots

In Awka, the capital territory of the state, some of the black spots where the bandits usually carry out their nefarious activities could be identified as UNIZIK temporary site junction along the Enugu/Onitsha expressway,Nise/Agulu/Nanka/Ekwulobia road where the criminals usually patrol with their motorbikes, concealing their arms inside their waists.

*Suspected kidnap kingpin aka Hunchman

In the industrial town of Nnewi and its metropolis, the notoriety and porosity of Oraifite/Ozubulu/Okija federal highway, is never in doubt as commuters usually have nightmare plying the road that leads from the commercial city of Onitsha to Owerri, Port Harcourt, Aba, Cross River and Akwa Ibom states.

Activities of the criminals

Inside Onitsha metropolis, the Onitsha/Oba/Owerri road, the Upper Iweka Fly-over bridge (both on top and under), Okpoko junction, Oguta road by Queen of the Rosary College (QRC), Vinee Oil, Army gate, Nkpor/Umuoji road, Nkpor junction and New Tarzan junction, Uga junction by Atani road Benin Motor Park at Bridge-head market are some of the bad spots where the bandits strike constantly.

However, the police are not resting on its oars in bringing the activities of the criminals to a check.  Unfortunately,the criminals are somehow smarter than the security operatives, to the extent that in most cases, they outsmart the operatives in gun duels.

Encounter with robbers: Recently, a robbery suspect was shot dead by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, Okpoko unit, during an encounter while his gang member escaped with bullet wounds.The shootout came barely 48 hours after a gang of armed robbers shot and killed a vigilance operative attached to Okpoko Vigilante Services in Okpoko Layout, during which one of the suspects was equally arrested by the police.

The deceased suspect and his escaped gang member who operated on a motorcycle as a two-man robbery gang, according to the source, had blocked a commercial motorcyclist on top of the Upper Iweka Fly-over bridge at about 7.30 p.m. on Tuesday, armed with a locally-made,double-barrel pistol, dispossessed him of all his valuables, including the motorcycle, GSM Handset and an unspecified amount of money.

The source further hinted that as soon as the suspects were through with their victim and wanted to escape with his motorcycle, operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad ,SARS,Okpoko Unit, stumbled into them and attempted to arrest them. When the duo opened fire and took to their heels to evade arrest, the SARS operatives returned fire for fire, killing one of them instantly, while the other barely managed to escape with their own motorcycle and bullet wounds.

Consequently, the SARS operatives recovered the victim’s motorcycle, the GSM Handset and the sum of money snatched from him by the robbers, just as the robbers’ locally-made pistol with two live cartridges were equally recovered.

Eye-witnesses who gave a bit-by-bit account of the encounter between the robbers and the victim on one side, the robbers and the SARS operatives on the other side, told Crime Alert that the victim who simply identified himself as Nwike Sixtus, praised the police for their timely intervention during the robbery operation.

Meanwhile, one of the robbery suspects who shot and killed an operative of Okpoko vigilance group simply identified as ‘Stubborn’, is now helping the police to track down four other members of his gang who are on the run, after killing their victim.

He was said to have been picked up by the SARS operatives in his hideout at Okpoko at about 2.30 a.m.

It was not clear as at press time why they decided to kill the operative but sources said their action might not be unconnected with the constant foiling of robbery operations in the area by the Okpoko vigilance operatives, which might have made the nefarious activities of the robbers in the area unsuccessful and very difficult for them to contend with.

Other notorious spots: In another development, the Obosi bypass along the Onitsha/Oba dual carriageway has been completely taken over by robbers, particularly from the evening hours till dawn. The spot has become so notorious that even the security operatives themselves are very much aware of the situation, but it does appear they are helpless for one reason or the other.

Just a forthnight ago, some robbers who operated on motorbikes, trailed a Mercedes Benz lorry from Onitsha down to the bypass at about 6.30 p.m.and forced the driver to stop under gun point. When the driver eventually stopped, they robbed all the occupants of the vehicle in the full glare of commuters passing through the road.

Some of the passengers who wanted to stop at the bypass to board another vehicle or commercial motorcycle to Nkpor, had to continue their journey up to Upper Iweka, while those who had already dropped from their vehicles without knowing that robbers were having their field day, had to scamper for safety, even as the robbers were asking them whether they were looking at them or monitoring their activities to which they all chorused: “No, we are not looking at you.”

Kidnap suspect shot: Last Monday, a combined team of Policemen and soldiers shot a kidnap suspect dead and rescued a victim from the den of the kidnappers where he had been held captive for some days.  The rescue operation, sources said, took place at 3-3 Area of Onitsha where the joint Police and Army team struck and engaged the kidnappers in a gun duel which resulted in the death of one of them while the rest fled to safety.

According to a reliable source, the kidnappers had taken their victim whose identity was not immediately known hostage inside their hideout in an unknown destination, while the family waited in vain for the kidnappers to establish contact with them.   It was however gathered, that the Police eventually received information that the victim was kept in an uncompleted building in a remote area at 3-3, Onitsha where heavy security watch was mounted on him, in order to forestall his escape.

Anonymous condition

Our source further stated that when the information about his whereabouts was released to the police, they contacted the Army Barrack in Onitsha, and some army personnel were drafted to join the police in the rescue operation which lasted for about an hour.   A police source who chose to speak on anonymous condition, told Crime Alert that as soon as the kidnappers sighted the team of the police and Army personnel on the rescue operation, they opened fire on them while the team returned fire in an exchange.

Police,CD react: The Police Area Commander for Onitsha, Benjamin Wordu who confirmed the rescue operation declined further comments on the ground that the case had been taken over by a superior hand. The state Police Public Relations Officer,PPRO, Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka,DSP, confirmed the incident and stated that the police are on the trail of the fleeing suspects.

In his comment, a human rights activist based in Onitsha and Chairman of the Campaign for Democracy, CD, South East Zone, Dede Uzor A. Uzor, called on the appropriate authorities to promote the Okpoko SARS Commander DSP Anthony Ogah and his Ihiala counterpart, DSP Linus for their efforts in crime fighting in the area and urged other police officers in the state to emulate these acts of bravery and hard work.

Uzor who decried high incidences of kidnapping, robbery and other high profile criminal activities by our youths, particularly between the ages of 18 and 30, noted that this range of youths, majority of whom are of Igbo extraction, who refused to engage themselves in meaningful activities, lose their lives almost on daily basis.