The Anambra State Police Command has apprehended three suspected cultists who were allegedly impersonating police officers within the state.
The arrest was confirmed in a statement issued on Wednesday by the police spokesperson for the State Police Command, Tochukwu Ikenga.
Ikenga, a superintendent of police, revealed that the arrests were made early Wednesday morning by the Special Anti-Cultism Squad in Enugu Ukwu, located in the Njikoka Local Government Area of the state.
One of the suspects, identified as Chidi Ekwesiri, a 50-year-old from Umunya in Oyi Local Government Area, was the first to be taken into custody during a surveillance patrol along the Onitsha–Enugu Expressway near UNIZIK’s Temporary Site in Awka.
“During interrogations, the suspect claimed to be a sergeant and a serving member of the Nigeria Police Force in Lagos but later denied his earlier claim,” Ikenga explained.
According to Ikenga, further questioning of Ekwesiri led to the arrest of two additional suspects, who are currently being interrogated by the police.
The operation also resulted in the recovery of an automatic pump-action gun and a police uniform from the suspects.
Ikenga stated that Ekwesiri admitted the weapon had been handed to him by an unidentified individual in Ukpo, a community in Dunukofia Local Government Area.
The Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Nnaghe Obono, has directed that the case be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Awka for further investigation.
“The suspects will be charged to court at the conclusion of the investigations,” the police spokesperson added.
