A four-man car-snatching syndicate, who converts stolen cars to spare parts and sells them to unsuspecting buyers in bits, has been busted in Anambra State.
The suspects – Emeka Onyeoma (23), Chidiebele Amaluaka (22) and Ezenwaokolo Ikechukwu (20) – were nabbed after an operation in which they attack a pastor on 24 February 2020.
According to the Anambra State Police Command, the suspects snatched a Toyota RAV4 car with registration number GRE 170 AA from the pastor. They were also alleged to have stolen his Samsung J4 and a cash sum of $5,000, before shooting him the leg and leaving him for dead.
The spokesperson for the state police command, Haruna Mohammed, in a statement on Friday, said a Berreta pistol, three live ammunition of .9mm and engine of a car snatched at gunpoint were recovered from the suspects.
He said,
“At about 11:30am, following intelligence report, police operatives attached to the command’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad arrested at different locations within Nkpor axis the syndicate.
“Suspects had on February 24, at about 2.30pm, allegedly lured one Pastor Uche Iheme, aged 41 years, of Awomama, Imo State, to a location behind First Bank, Oyeolisa Ogidi and snatched his Toyota RAV4 car with registration number GRE 170 AA, Samsung J4 and a cash sum of $5,000.
“The suspects equally shot the victim in his left limb and fled, leaving him unconscious in the pool of his blood.”
