The police operatives serving in Hawk Squad of the Enugu Police Command have arrested three members of a syndicate which specialized in extorting villagers under the guise of IPOB/ESN.
The suspects are: Oluchi Idoko aged 25, Ifebuche Omeh aged 25 and Wisdom Onyemaechi aged 21 all of Enugu Ezike town in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State.
They were among the 92 suspects paraded by the Enugu State commissioner of police, Kanayo Uzuegbu, during his maiden press conference in Enugu.
According to him, preliminary investigation showed the suspects are a syndicate of the criminal gang operating under the guise of being IPOB/ESN militants that menacingly demand money and threaten to kill their victims if they fail to comply.
It was further gathered that they menacingly obtained the total sum of one million, two thousand naira (N1,002,000.00) from their victims.
“They would usually call you on phone and tell you that they are the IPOB/ESN members protecting your village. With that, they demand some money from you and threaten to kill you or burn your house if you refuse to pay. So many of their victims usually paid”, a police source added.
The CP disclosed that the suspects were however arrested on 19th August, 3rd and 14th September 2023, at different locations in Enugu State.
According to him, their arrest followed credible intelligence by police operatives serving in Hawk Squad of the Command.
The suspect confessed to the crime as the police continued further discreet investigation to arrest the other members of the syndicate at large.
