The Imo State Police Command says it has dismantled a robbery syndicate allegedly involved in armed robbery, attempted murder and vehicle snatching, arresting five suspects and recovering 450 motorcycles believed to be stolen in one of the state’s biggest recent crime recoveries. Police also said operatives seized about N6.4 million in cash, several number plates and other incriminating items during the operation.
Police spokesperson DSP Henry Okoye announced the breakthrough in Owerri on Sunday while briefing journalists on behalf of Commissioner of Police Audu Bosso. According to him, the operation was carried out by the command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit, led by ACP Oladimeji Odeyeyiwa, and grew out of an investigation into the disappearance of a commercial shuttle bus driver.
Okoye said the case began on April 6 after Paul Ohaka, a shuttle bus driver who reportedly left home for work on April 5, was declared missing. Police later found him unconscious and abandoned at Irete along the Onitsha Road axis, while his bus had been stolen. The command said investigators tracked the vehicle to a workshop in Orlu, where suspects were allegedly preparing to repaint it to conceal its identity. Two suspects, identified as Olagoke Jelili and Godday Ezike, were arrested there, and their detention led officers to three more alleged gang members.
Police said the suspects attempted to bribe operatives with N5 million to avoid arrest, but the offer was rejected. That detail has featured prominently in the command’s account, with Okoye presenting it as evidence of the unit’s “zero-tolerance” stance on corruption. He added that charms and other exhibits were recovered from the suspects’ hideouts.
The most striking aspect of the raid was the scale of the motorcycle recovery. Police said some of the bikes were found on the premises first searched, while follow-up operations uncovered many more, including motorcycles allegedly hidden in bushes. Okoye said the suspects were unable to provide valid proof of ownership for the recovered bikes, which investigators now believe were stolen through the syndicate’s operations.
The command says all suspects will face full prosecution. For now, the case stands out not only for the arrest of five alleged gang members, but also for the sheer volume of property recovered, suggesting a network operating on a far larger scale than an ordinary robbery ring.
