By Izunna Okafor, Awka
The Anambra State Police Command has intensified its ongoing raids on criminal hideouts across the state, with operatives arresting a suspected member of a group agitating for self-government and six other suspects, including a female alleged drug dealer.
The latest operations, conducted on Thursday, August 13, 2026, also led to the recovery of an Army uniform, expended ammunition shells and substances suspected to be illicit drugs, according to a statement issued on Friday by the Command’s Police Public Relations Officer, SP Ikenga Tochukwu.
The operations were carried out by operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU) as part of the Command’s sustained security operations, following directives from the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu, psc (+), NPM, and the intensified operational strategy of the Commissioner of Police, CP Nnanna Oji Ama.
The Command said its operatives, acting on credible intelligence on Thursday evening, arrested a 65-year-old man, Ifeanyi Ogbuagbo, in Umudioka.
He said a search of his residence reportedly resulted in the recovery of an Army uniform and expended ammunition shells concealed in a black polythene bag.
According to the police statement, preliminary information indicates that Ogbuagbo is linked to a criminal gang allegedly agitating for self-government. He has been taken into custody while investigators work to establish the circumstances surrounding the recovered items and his alleged activities.
In a separate operation later the same evening, VCRU operatives, acting on intelligence and as part of efforts to raid identified black spots and criminal hideouts, stormed a suspected criminal hideout in Ekwulobia, Aguata Local Government Area.
Six suspects were arrested in the operation. They were identified as Chisom Okafor, 25; Onyedika Moses, 36; Iruka Nwaonu, 30; Joseph Nwankwo, 36; Chukwujekwu Nwoso, 32; and Akanimo Orok, 40.
The police said a sizeable quantity of dried weeds suspected to be Cannabis sativa, alongside other substances suspected to be illicit drugs, was recovered during the operation.
The latest arrests and recoveries add to the Command’s ongoing efforts to disrupt criminal activities, cultism and illicit drug operations through targeted raids and intelligence-led policing.
CP Nnanna Oji Ama, according to the statement, has directed that the ongoing raids of criminal hideouts, drug-selling spots and other identified areas of criminal activity be intensified and sustained across the state.
The Commissioner also reiterated the Command’s commitment to deploying intelligence-led operations, strategic patrols and coordinated raids to dismantle criminal networks, disrupt illicit drug activities and deny criminals safe havens in Anambra.
