By Jon Egie
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Delta State Police Command, DCP Johnson Adenola has assured that the police would leave no stone unturned in ensuring that crime and criminality is brought to the barest minimum.
Recently, there has been a rise in kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes especially in the Ughelli and Agbarho cum Warri axis of the State.
As a follow up, on Wednesday, May 3, the DCP Operations convened and held a brainstorming meeting with key officers during which, strategies aimed at nipping activities of the criminals especially kidnappers in the bud were mapped out.
Consequently, tactical officers and their men were deployed to Ughelli and Warri to reinforce the police divisions in those areas.
That effort paid off when the DPO ‘B’ Division Warri, SP Bolarinwa Alabi on Thursday, May 4, at about 0013hours, received a distress call that some armed robbers snatched a black lexus cars along Warri/Sapele Road and have been robbing innocent citizens using the said car.
The DPO swiftly mobilized and led a strike force team of the Division, trailed the hoodlums, and caught up with them.
The hoodlums upon sighting the police opened fire at the team who also responded with superior firepower. The hoodlums, numbering about four, escaped into the bush while firing at the police but one of them was hit and fatally wounded. The injured suspect gave up the ghost while receiving treatment.
One locally made cut-to-size double barrel gun with two live cartridges, one suspected stolen vehicle with reg. no PYN 595 PW were recovered.
In a related development, earlier on Monday, May 1st, at about 2200 hours, as a proactive measure, the DPO Ughelli division led police operatives to patrol along Ughelli/Asaba Road, during which, they intercepted one Odogun Ifeanyi ‘m’ 36yrs and one other suspect and when search was conducted on them, one locally made single barrel gun with four live cartridges, one jack knife were recovered.
On the same date, the DPO and his men also arrested one Ediri Omote ‘m’ age 45 years, and two others, and one locally made single barrel gun with nine expended cartridges were recovered from them.
DCP Johnson Adenola appealed to the public to help the police command with information that could be useful in the tasks at hand stressing that the availability of useful information is the secret behind effective policing of a society.
Meanwhile, the two Catholic priests who were recently kidnapped in Ughelli have been released. They got their freedom about 2053hours of Thursday, May 4; the Command’s PPRO, DSP Bright Edafe confirmed.