Photo: Recovered items
By Deborah Nnamdi
The Anambra State Police Command has arrested a four-member gang notorious for snatching tricycles and mobile phones along the Agu Awka and Ifite Awka axis, with students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University being their primary targets.
According to a statement released on Tuesday by the Command’s spokesperson, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, officers from the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) carried out the operation in the early hours of Monday, August 25, 2025.
Items recovered from the suspects include nine mobile phones—among them an iPhone belonging to one of the victims—one laptop, two tricycles with registration numbers LSD 464 QP and BLF 552 VH, four extra tricycle plate numbers, and a substance suspected to be a hard drug.
“The operatives intercepted a tricycle during a night patrol and arrested a four-man syndicate involved in robbing residents, especially students, of phones and valuables,” the statement read.
The suspects have been identified as Nnaji Chidera (19), Chijioke Mmaduabuchi (21), Wisdom Ogbonna (19), and Afamefuna Egbe (20). During interrogation, they confessed to being part of a gang that targets students and revealed they frequently swapped plate numbers to evade detection.
Commending the officers for their swift action, the Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu, reiterated the Command’s zero-tolerance policy on crime and warned youths against engaging in criminal activities, promising that offenders will face the full weight of the law.
