The Delta State Police Command has arrested a total of 627 suspects linked to murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and other criminal offences from January 2025 to date.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr Olufemi Abaniwonda, disclosed this in Asaba while briefing journalists on the operational achievements recorded by the command so far this year. He also revealed that N36 million paid as ransom by victims’ families was successfully recovered during operations.
According to the police commissioner, those arrested include 140 suspected armed robbers, 113 suspected kidnappers, 125 murder suspects, 187 suspected cultists, and 62 suspects linked to rape and defilement cases.
He added that 18 kidnap victims were rescued alive, while operatives recovered 28 vehicles and 144 arms during various operations across the state.
Abaniwonda attributed the successes to the command’s proactive, intelligence-led and community-focused policing approach. He said the police worked closely with other security agencies and community stakeholders, including vigilante groups, anti-cult volunteers, Police Community Relations Committees, civil society organisations and traditional rulers, to sustain targeted operations against criminal gangs.
Highlighting a major recent breakthrough, the commissioner spoke on the murder of retired Justice Ifeoma Okogwu, which occurred on November 24, 2025, at her residence. He said that acting on credible intelligence, operatives of the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation Department in Asaba arrested a suspect, Godwin Mngumi, a 25-year-old security guard attached to the victim’s residence, on December 6, 2025.
The suspect was reportedly found in possession of one of the late justice’s mobile phones. During interrogation, he allegedly made a voluntary confession, admitting that he invited an accomplice, identified as Nnaji Obalum, a 21-year-old male, to carry out the crime.
Abaniwonda said the suspects confessed that on November 23, 2025, at about 9:30 p.m., they, alongside another suspect who is still at large, gained access to the house, restrained the victim with rope and cloth, and killed her.
He added that the suspects later stole her belongings, including two mobile phones and a wristwatch, which they sold for a small amount of money. One of the stolen phones, according to him, has since been recovered at Ogbogonogo Market in Asaba, while investigations continue to track down the remaining suspect.
