Abia gang leader rapes woman, collects ransom

The Abia State Police Command announced that no fewer than 162 people had been taken into custody for a variety of offenses across the state, including kidnapping and child trafficking.

This was disclosed by Maureen Chinaka, the public relations officer for the state police, when she paraded the suspects at the command center in the Umuahia region of the state. 

Chinaka claims that the suspects were detained on suspicion of a number of offenses, including robbery, kidnapping, trafficking in children, illegal possession of firearms, possession of strong substances, and others. As she paraded the suspects, Chinaka disclosed that Josephine Martins, 56, had been taken into custody on suspicion of trafficking children after someone had complained to the Umuahia Central Police Station about her niece Chinaemezunkpa Okechi's previous pregnancy, which had ended.

After asking, Chinaka said the complainant disclosed that her niece claimed to have been taken to Martins' home in Amansu Ubakala by two individuals who were only named as Sam and Uzoma.

Chinaka claimed the accused planned to steal her kid after she gave birth on April 18, 2024, and they booked a flat on Umuwaya Road in Umuahia. After being found, the suspects were prosecuted in court. The arrest of five men for kidnapping a woman in the Ariaria neighborhood of Aba—Nwanwa Ifeanyi, 32; Ezeugo Ogbonna, 27; Chukwuebuka Okwuchukwu, 28; Chibuisi Ogbonna, 22; and Chinemerem Ogbonna, 20—was also noted.

However, Chukwuka Solomon, a second victim, was saved and the accused were captured after the Rapid Response Squad tracked down the offenders and located their hiding place in Umungbede village in the Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area. Furthermore, a 25-year-old Christian Ezekiel was apprehended for the trafficking of three women.

Chinaka said that SWAT team members went to Milverton Park in Aba based on reliable information, where the man and three girls—Joy Nwachukwu, 19, Faith Ndukwe, 20, and Grace Ozioma, 20—were trying to get into a car to go to Kano State with the intention of taking the girls to Libya without their parents' permission.