Operatives of the Quick Intervention Team (QIT) and Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Imo State Police Command have foiled a robbery operation and arrested 30 suspects allegedly involved in armed robbery, cultism, car snatching and unlawful possession of firearms.

Spokesperson for the command, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Henry Okoye, who disclosed this in a statement yesterday, said the arrests were made in separate operations over the past few days.

He said, “Operatives of the Imo State Police Command have recorded a series of operational successes within the past months, following the swift response of the Quick Intervention Team (QIT) and the Rapid Response Squad (RRS). During these operations, 30 suspects were arrested for offences including armed robbery, car snatching, cultism and unlawful possession of firearms. A large cache of arms and ammunition, three snatched vehicles and two motorcycles were recovered.”

Okoye said that on November 7, 2025, at about 7:00 p.m., armed robbers snatched a Mercedes-Benz GLE 350 with registration number ABC-10CG from one Chukwuebuka and his friends at Ikenegbu by Holy Family Catholic Hospital, Owerri.

He said following a distress call, QIT operatives tracked the vehicle towards Okigwe Road and recovered it around 10:30 p.m. One suspect, identified as Adamu Sani of Kachia Local Council, Kaduna State, was arrested and confessed to the crime, naming his accomplices as Abdullahi, Emmanuel and Emeka.

Similarly, on November 8, 2025, at about 3:00 a.m., operatives recovered a black Toyota Hilux with registration number NEM-14AG, reportedly stolen from a hotel in Rivers State. The vehicle was found abandoned at New Owerri by De Angels around 5:00 a.m.

He added that on the same day, a Toyota Venza earlier snatched by three armed men at New Owerri by De Compound on November 7 was recovered abandoned at Yar’Adua Drive by Chosen Church around 5:30 p.m. All the vehicles, he said, have been identified by their owners, while efforts are ongoing to apprehend other fleeing suspects.

In another operation, RRS operatives on stop-and-search duty along Owerri/Aba Road on November 2, 2025, at about 8:30 a.m., intercepted two young men in a commercial bus heading to Owerri.

A search on the suspects led to the recovery of a cut-to-size locally made double-barreled gun and three live cartridges. They were identified as Uchechukwu Ahamefule, 25, and Miracle Eberechi, 28, both of Ogbu Umuorji, Osisioma, Abia State.

Okoye said the suspects confessed to being members of the Vikings/Bagar confraternity and admitted that they seized the firearm from a rival cult group in Aba.

“The case is under investigation, and further efforts are ongoing to apprehend other members of their syndicate,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, Aboki Danjuma, reaffirmed the command’s commitment to eradicating criminal elements from the state.