The Abia State Police Command on Monday said its operatives killed five suspected members of a notorious kidnapping gang and recovered six AK-47 rifles in a raid on their hideout.
The operation, carried out on June 30 by joint tactical teams acting on credible intelligence, targeted a kidnappers’ den in Umuiku Obete Village, Ukwa West Local Government Area.
The suspects were linked to a series of abductions along Umuozo Village, Uratta Road, off Port Harcourt Road.
According to the police, the gang opened fire on sighting the officers, prompting a shootout. “Unable to withstand the superior firepower of the police, five members of the gang were neutralised,” police spokeswoman DSP Maureen C. Chinaka said in a statement.
Recovered from the scene were six AK-47 rifles, 335 rounds of live ammunition, 14 magazines, five mobile phones, three cutlasses, five operational jackets, an axe, a boot, and a set of charms. An investigation is underway to locate and apprehend fleeing members of the gang.
The Abia State governor has said no inch of Abia state territory will be under the controls of criminals etc.