TheCable

The Imo state police command says it arrested one Godwin Chukwuemeka, an ex-soldier, for alleged involvement in the attack on Imo correctional centre.

On April 5, the correctional centre and the police command headquarters in Owerri were attacked by gunmen, and the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) had said 1,844 inmates escaped from the facility.

On Monday, Mike Abatam, special adviser on media to the state commissioner of police, paraded the suspect, and said the suspect had confessed to being part of the gunmen that attacked the prison and police headquarters in Owerri.

Abatam said the suspect was found with military camouflage, desert boots and arms.

“Following reliable information, tactical teams of the Imo command stormed the hideout of a notorious suspected criminal in the Owerri Nekede area, where one Godwin Chukwuemeka, aka Match and Die, 35, was arrested inside the ceiling of his residence,” he said.

“The suspect is alleged to be a dismissed soldier of the Nigerian army. On interrogation, he confessed to being among the hoodlums, who attacked the Imo state police command headquarters and the correctional centre, Owerri, earlier this year.

“Meanwhile, the following items were recovered from the suspect: a cut-to-size double-barrelled gun, a black browning pistol, two live cartridges, one expended cartridge, military camouflage and desert boots.

“The commissioner of police urged the officers and men of the command to sustain the tempo of the moment. He commends the good people of the state for their support and solicits an all-society approach to improve security in the state.”

Speaking with journalists, Chukwuemeka said he fled the military camp in the north-east because of the insurgency in the region.