Police display weapons recovered from kidnap suspects

SIX years after the death of the Chairman of GUO Motors Limited, Godwin Okeke, a policeman attached to the Anambra State Headquarters of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Corporal Victor Edet, at the weekend displayed the weapons allegedly used on him by a gang of armed robbers/kidnappers.

Edet, a witness in the ongoing trial of the three accused abductors of Okeke in the case before Justice Alexander Okumah, told the court how the police arrested some of the gangsters and recovered their weapons.

Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Chris Ajugwe, Edet told the court that after Okeke was kidnapped and later released after N30 million ransom had been paid, the state Commissioner of Police learnt that one Emeka Eze, a notorious armed robber/kidnapper who had been on police wanted list, was sighted in Asaba, Delta State.

The commissioner then set up an investigative team of policemen from SARS, including himself, to fish Eze out. Consequently, a combined team of policemen and vigilante operatives arrested the Anambra indigene, who confessed to their operations and listed his gang members to include Izunna, Ndubuisi, Kelechi Okafor, Anthony Ifeanyi Okafor and others, who participated in Okeke’s kidnap.

After Eze’s confessional statement, he said, the police invited Okeke, who eventually identified Eze as one of his abductors. He further led the police to the gang’s armoury at Nando, where they recovered five AK 47, 5,830 AK 47 ammunitions, two General Post Machine Guns (GPMG), 1,125 GPMG live ammunitions, one rocket launcher, five rocket launcher propellers, one K2 riffle and 124 AK 47 empty magazines, among others.

Meanwhile, the court granted an oral application by the prosecution counsel, Ajugwe, for the police to return all the displayed weapons to the police armoury in Awka.

The court then adjourned further hearing for continuation of cross-examination and for more prosecution witnesses to give their evidences.