RIVERS POLICE ARREST 18 SUSPECTS, RECOVER 47 FIREARMS, 12 STOLEN VEHICLES
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
The Rivers State Police Command has arrested 18 suspected criminals, including a fake soldier allegedly involved in car snatching, and recovered 47 firearms and 12 stolen vehicles during operations conducted across the state between June and August 2026.
The command also recovered 102 rounds of live ammunition, five live cartridges and 11 cutlasses in the course of the operations.
The Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Adepoju, disclosed this on Thursday while parading some of the suspects and displaying the recovered exhibits at the command headquarters on Moscow Road, Port Harcourt.
Among those paraded were suspects linked to kidnapping, armed robbery, one-chance robbery and cultism, as well as three suspects allegedly involved in the killing of two police officers during a stop-and-search operation at Aluu, Ikwerre Local Government Area, on June 29.
Adepoju said the three suspects—Maduabuchi Emeka, 34, identified as the gang leader; Chinedu Owhor, 42; and Kamachi Joe, 28, the alleged armourer—were arrested by operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit.
According to him, the suspects led investigators to their hideout in Omagwa, where the two AK-47 rifles stolen during the attack on the police officers were recovered. The police, he added, were still pursuing another member of the gang.
The commissioner also disclosed the arrest of seven suspected members of a kidnapping syndicate operating in Oyigbo Local Government Area.
He said the suspects allegedly confessed to carrying out kidnappings in Kom-Kom, Railway, Obeama and Afam communities, while two additional suspects linked to the network were arrested on July 27.
One AK-47 rifle and a submachine gun were recovered from the suspects, according to the police.
In another operation, police arrested a 49-year-old man, Andrew Atausi, on August 10 along the Ada George axis of Port Harcourt.
Adepoju said Atausi was wearing military uniform and driving a Toyota Hilux painted in Army colours when he was intercepted.
The suspect allegedly confessed that he was not a member of the Armed Forces. Police investigations subsequently linked him to suspected car-snatching activities.
Three Toyota Hilux vehicles without registration numbers and a Toyota Corona Premio were recovered from him. The police said the chassis and engine numbers of the vehicles had been tampered with, while an axe and military accoutrements were also recovered.
The command also arrested suspects linked to alleged firearm-related offences, one-chance robbery and other criminal activities, with several weapons and ammunition recovered.
Adepoju assured residents that the command would sustain intelligence-led and community-oriented policing to tackle criminal activities across the state.
He said the police were collaborating with the military, Department of State Services, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and other security stakeholders to strengthen security operations.
The commissioner also urged parents and guardians to monitor their children and discourage them from engaging in cultism, kidnapping, armed robbery and internet fraud.
“Rivers State will not be a safe haven for criminals. We will find you, we will dismantle your networks, we will recover your weapons, and we will prosecute you,” Adepoju warned.
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