By Austin Ogwuda
…. as CP orders immediate redeployment of Ogwashi-Uku DPO
Following the incessant cases of violent crimes especially kidnappings in Ogwashi-Uku and its environs, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) has been sent packing.
Delta State Commissioner of Police, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda ordered the immediate rededeploynent of the DPO and gave marching order to his men to stem the tide as well as fish out the perpetrators.
In a related development, Mrs. Blessing Nwakaego who was among those kidnapped from Elyon Paradise Ministry Azagba Ogwashi during vigil last Friday has narrated how she was released from the kidnapers’ den after paying N3m ransom.
The woman in a video which has gone viral claimed that a prominent Deltan came to her rescue by assisting her with part of the money before she was released.
The Townhall was yet to ascertain if five other worshippers kidnapped along with her have been freed.
On the DPO’s redeployment, the Delta State Police Command’s Spokesman Bright Edafe, a Superintendent of Police in a press release on Tuesday afternoon, stated that “The Command is aware of a series of complaints emanating from Ogwashi-uku circulating on WhatsApp and other social media platforms of incessant kidnapping and armed robbery in the area.
“The Commissioner of Police Delta State, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda, has directed the Deputy Commissioner of police operations DCP Aina Adesola to deploy tactical teams to Ogwashi-Uku and the area Commander Ogwashi-Uku to coordinate the operation.
“In compliance with this directive, deployments of combat operatives were drawn from Dragon Patrol, Eagle-Net, and Rapid Response Squad (RRS) and posted to various nipping points in Ogwshi-Uku.
“In the same vein, the command’s Special Anti-Kidnapping and Cyber-Crime Squad (SAKCCS) has been mandated to relocate to Ogwashi-Uku and to embark on intelligence-driven policing to ensure that all suspected kidnappers and armed robbers carrying out these nefarious activities are arrested and brought to justice.
“In addition to these deployments”, the statement went on, “operatives of the State Intelligence Department (SID) have been directed to embark on undercover policing duties and intelligence gathering in the area”.
