The Anambra State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of three suspects in separate operations across the state, including a man accused of conspiring to abduct three children while they were eating in front of their house.
This was confirmed in a statement issued on Thursday by the Command’s Police Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, who noted that the arrests were made following the enhanced security patrols and community collaboration strategy recently emplaced by the Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu.
According to him, on September 23, 2025, at about 12:38 p.m., a joint security team comprising operatives from Achalla Division and members of the Special Vigilante Taskforce of Achalla arrested two suspects, identified as Chinwendu Ndieli and Uchenna Offodile.
The suspects, he said, were nabbed after a report was received concerning a Mack Truck with registration number T 5003 LA, with an empty container, which was found abandoned near St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Achalla.The PPRO noted that upon interrogation, the duo confessed to stealing the truck from a company in Lagos. He added that the rightful owner has been contacted to provide the necessary documents for verification and recovery of the vehicle.
In a related development, SP Ikenga disclosed that operatives attached to Okpoko Division recovered an abandoned white Toyota Camry Spider with registration number AWK 91 SR along the Onitsha–Owerri Road, opposite Tiger Fruit Company, on the same date. He said another plate number, Delta 06A 90 DT, was discovered inside the vehicle during the search. The car, he added, has been moved to the station for safekeeping, pending identification and collection by the owner.
Giving further updates, the police spokesman revealed that on the evening of September 23, through the help of village youths in Ihiala, the operatives arrested one Charles Chiemerie Onuigbo over an alleged case of child abduction. Preliminary investigations, according to him, showed that Onuigbo and two others at large conspired to abduct three children aged 6, 3, and 2 years respectively.
The statement narrated that the victims’ mother had left her children eating in front of their house while she went into the kitchen to get them more food, only to return and discover they had disappeared. Investigations further revealed that the arrested suspect, a neighbour, had been harbouring the two fleeing accomplices whose identities are yet unknown.
SP Ikenga noted that the suspect was beaten by irate members of the community before police operatives rescued him, stressing that he is now in custody undergoing interrogation, while efforts are ongoing to track down the fleeing suspects and rescue the missing children.
The PPRO further assured that calm has returned to the affected areas, even as counter-terrorism and other crime prevention operations continue across the state. He also reiterated the Commissioner of Police’s commitment to sustaining proactive patrols and collaboration with community stakeholders to consolidate public safety in Anambra.