Under Fire: No Hiding Place for Criminals and their Ilk in Eleme
Since 2013 it has been blood, sorrow, horror, pain, death,
and helplessness in almost all the towns and villages of Eleme. Sleepless night
yet nightmarish, and a crimson web of terror. At night, creaking sounds send
shivers down the spines of both male and female, old and young, indigene and
resident.
The spate of violence and armed banditry has escalated in
recent times. Every day gory tales of violent crimes are told by victims who
survived as criminals steal, extort, maim, rape, and kill freely.
But, as God Almighty would have it, the last few days have
been quite eventful and challenging for the Eleme Police Division in their
quest to halt criminal activities in the area.
The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Eleme CSP
Nathaniel Okpara disclosed while giving details of his Division’s effort in
stemming the tide of crime wave in Eleme that the police had recorded some
success in law enforcement.
This assertion was evidently and explicitly confirmed when
the exploit of a gang of notorious armed robbers came to an end in the night
that breaks Wednesday 17th June, 2015 during robbery operation along
Princess Road, Egbalor Ebubu Eleme.
In a swift reaction to a tip off, the DPO, CSP Okpara led a
team of gallant police officers to the scene. The robbers numbering more than
15 and well-armed came with slug hammers, big axes, iron-cutters, and other
materials with which they destroyed the heavy protectors and dismantled the
fortified security doors to gain access into the building, after robbing a
nearby house.
Unknown to the dear-devil robbers, the police had been
alerted and they arrived almost immediately. On their part, the robbers were
also vigilant as they greeted the police with several gunshots. In a gun duel
that lasted more than an hour, three of the robbers died instantly, while many
others sustained various degrees of gunshot injuries.
A prominent Chief in the community who spoke under anonymity
revealed that three other corpse were found in the nearby bush the following
day, while the fourth person died in Kaliko Forest, Eta Osaro, Egbalor Ebubu as
result of bullet wounds.
Among the things recovered from the robbers include both
local and foreign made riffles and ammunition, refrigerators (deep freezers and
fridges), electronics, and other household apparatus, and several motorcycles,
which the police kept wondering how the hoodlums intend to carry their loots
after the operations.
The police as true friend of the people did not leave the
victims of the robbery operation to their fate. Rather, CSP Nathaniel Okpara
evacuated them to the Eleme Divisional Police Headquarters, Ogale to prevent a
reprisal attack by the escapees/members of the robbery gang. A wise decision
that saved the family, and further exposed how low criminals can condescend in
trying to reap where they did not sow.
It shocked those present at the Police Division, Ogale when a 5 year old
boy in Nursery School identified his School bag among the heap of things looted
by the robbers.
“Mommy! Mommy!! My School bag! My School bag!” The boy
shouted, pointing at his School bag among heap of things carted by the
criminals. On opening the bag, the police confirmed that it contains the little
boy’s books and writing materials. Truly, in keeping with its slogan that
“Police is your friend”, CSP Okpara immediately ordered the School bag to be
released to the boy to enable him go to School.
In a related development, on Monday 22nd June,
2015, the Eleme Police Division under the leadership of CSP Okpara also
recorded another success as they curbed the AP area, opposite Port Harcourt
Refining Company Limited (PHRC), Alesa Eleme. In the aftermath of the exchange
of firing, two armed robbers were arrested with catchment of arms and
ammunition. In the cause of interrogation one of the robbers revealed that at
the AP a gun can be procured for as low as N3,000.00 (three thousand Naira)
only.
“The guns are supplied to us by someone from Okrika for
N3,000.00. But, we are forbidden from coming into direct contact with the
supplier or know his name. It is boss talk to boss”, one of the arrested
robbers confessed.
According the captured robbers, an uncompleted building
along East-West Road, Eleme New Town, Ogale is where their loots are shared.
Earlier hunts for this notorious gang by the Eleme Police
Division ended in futility as the bandits are always a step ahead of the police
before nemesis finally caught up with them.
Upon a tip off the police arrived at their hideout, determined.
But the robbers were not weak-kneed as well. They engaged the police in a
fierce shooting, which prompted them to make a spirited attempt to escape. But
the police team rose to the occasion as some robbers met their waterloo in the
exchange of fire.
In another development, the Eleme Police also proved that
they are on top of the situation when CSP Okpara led his men to defeat another
gang of armed robbers after a frenzy gun battle at Oken Eta, Ogale on Thursday
25th June, 2015; at the end of which two robbers died while two
others escaped with bullet wounds.
The armed robbers who have some of them dressed in Military
Camouflage Uniform were well-armed with riffles and enough ammunition.
Narrating his experience, CSP Okpara said, “As we approached
the scene, we were told that the robbers had held their victims hostage in
their home, under the heavy rains. But,
with courage and determination, we moved in and dislodged them”.
The way and manner the police in Eleme executed these fatal
onslaughts against men of the under-world without losing one of their own shows
their preparedness and mastery of modern law enforcement techniques.
The police boss while expressing the Division’s appreciation
to members of the public whose information facilitated the eventual
apprehension of the bandits urged the public to always cooperate with the
police by providing the police with relevant real-time information about crime
and criminals in their neighbourhoods.
He observed that the police are out to eliminate crimes and
criminals from Eleme; and appealed to operators of hospitals, clinics, and
other health facilities in Eleme and environs to report anyone with gunshot
wounds to the police.
Okpara advised criminals to leave Eleme, stressing that,
“There is no hiding place for criminals in Eleme”. He emphasized that the
recent police triumph is a pointer to the determination of the Eleme Police
Division to rid Eleme of crimes and criminals. He pointed out emphatically that
measures were being taken against all black spots with the launch of the “Operation
Rid Eleme of criminals” aimed at addressing security challenge in Eleme. In his
words, “Police are working round the clock to ensure that Eleme is conducive
for business without fear of any threat or molestation”.
The police boss advised those who fled from Ebubu at the
heat of the criminal activities in the area to return as the police is at the
top of the security situation, emphasizing that law abiding citizens and
residents are to go about their legitimate businesses without fear.
Speaking through its Secretary, High Chief M. O. Ollorwi, the
Ebubu Council of Traditional Rulers, Chiefs and Elders, had commended the Eleme
Police Division under the leadership of CSP Nathaniel Okpara for returning
peace and security to Ebubu and urged all those who left the community during
the rival cult clashes to return home as normalcy has been restored.
As the police carry out onslaught against crimes and
criminals in Eleme, it is the responsibility of the public to assist the police
by giving them useful real-time information. By so doing you are helping to rid
our towns and villages of all sorts of crimes and criminals. Besides, having
achieved these feats, the police deserve our commendation, support, and
encouragement.
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