The Enugu state police command has arrested a Deputy Superintendent of Prisons Mr Collins Ugwu, for an alleged involvement in armed robbery.
Ugwu, who hails from Ebonyi State, but resides in Abuja, where he works at the headquarters of the Nigeria Prisons Service, was nabbed in Enugu on June 26.
He wasa arrested alongside other suspected accomplices, Ifeanyi Ozor, a native of Enugu State who is also resident in Abuja; and Smart Osetu from Oguta in Imo State.
The Commissioner of Police, Enugu State, Mr. Mohammed Danmallam, while parading the suspects revealed that asides armed robbery, the prisons officer and his gang were also involved in conspiracy, malicious damage, stealing and ‘obtaining by tricks.’
The Enugu police chief revealed that Ugwu and his colleagues were apprehended after the police gathered intelligence information on their activities.
Danmallam said,
“The suspects (Ugwu, Ozor and Osetu) belong to a syndicate that specialises in monitoring anyone that has gone to bank to make withdrawals and trail them to a point where they can smartly force the door or the windscreen (of the victims’ car) open with their instrument and steal the said amount.
“They are also part of a syndicate that buys from traders and generate fake payment alert to the owner of the goods without him knowing.
“They were nabbed along Ogui Road, Enugu by the operatives of the Enugu State Police Command on June 26, 2018, following intelligence information gathered concerning their nefarious activities.”
Items recovered from the suspects, according to Danmallam, include a Golf car with registration number Abuja RBC 220 KF, and a broken plug which they allegedly use in “scratching down” the window of the car to steal from their victims.
Ugwu refused to respond to questions thrown to him by journalists.
PUNCH