Cartons of illicit drugs recovered from the suspect
By Freedom Okpubeku
The police in the Ughelli Area Command have arrested one Egbule Ichioma, 52, over the possession of large quantities of illicit drugs even as a five-man gang of armed robbers whose leader, Samson Ugbe, had been on police list of wanted criminals also got nabbed by the police in Ughelli, headquarters of Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State.
Speaking to newsmen while parading the suspects Monday, September 1, 2025 at the Area Command in Ughelli, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Delta State Police Command, SP Edafe Bright, opined that the suspects were not novices in crime based on intelligence report about them.
Egbule Ichioma, whom SP Edafe described as drug baron was arrested alongside her three apprentices when a search was made on her chemist store and house at Afiesere-Ughelli and a huge quantity of illicit drugs worth close to N80m were found in both.
“On the 29th of September, 2025, men of the Area Command, Ughelli, embarked on a raid of a suspected criminal hideout in view of the campaign against the use of illicit drugs and their consequent effects on our youths in the society. The raid was made possible through credible intelligence that was released in relation to the activities of some persons known for drug peddling within Afiesere, Ughelli town and its environs.
The operatives traced and arrested a drug baron named Egule Ichioma, 52 years old,” he stated. According to him, the exhibits included 355 bottles of CSC Codeine, 57 rolls 50miligramme Tramadol Capsules, 335 rolls of 100miligramme Tramodol Capsules, 33 rolls of 200miligramme Super Royal, 7 blackwoods, 540 sachet of Swenot Capsules, and 16 cups of Canadian Liquid Cannabis.
On the robbery activities of Samson Ugbe, the PPRO said he (Ugbe) was linked to three criminal incidents in the state in 2024 one of which was the attempted kidnap of the wife of a member of the state House of Assembly in which two mobile policemen who were her aides were shot dead. He added that the second incident was the theft of 180 bags of rice stolen from a warehouse where some of the rice receivers were paraded at the Ekpan Police Station in Effurun, near Warri.
The third, he said, was a robbery at the Western Delta University, Oghara.
PPRO Edafe who gave the names of other members of the gang as Emmanuel Eder, Frank Aminu, Samson Irorowu, and Yahaya Bashir, said, “On the 26th of August, 2025, at about 08:00hrs, a man whose name we are going to withhold for now, from Agbarha-Otor, reported that he was robbed by five armed men.”
According to the police officer, items stolen from the man included laptop, a phone and a large screen television set. Then, SP Edafe continued, “the Area Commander detailed operatives who embarked on intelligence-led investigation that led to the arrest of a female suspect named Faith Perry. The Samsung phone that was stolen from the victim on 26th August was recovered from her. She was the one who now led us to the boyfriend whom she said gave her the phone. The boyfriend was immediately arrested … Further investigation brought more details that made us to know that the ringleader, Samsom Ugbe, aka Bigman, happened to be the one who led these criminals to rob this man.” He remarked that through more investigations, the leader, Bigman, was arrested eventually.
The police spokesman, who hinted that Samson Ugbe was also connected with cases of stolen vehicles and weapons, said all the suspects, including Egbule Ichioma, would eventually be charged to court even as investigation would continue.
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