How Police storm Explosives/gun factory in Cross River, arrest kingpin
By Uket Oka Calabar
The Cross River state Police Command in the early hours of Wednesday recorded a major breakthrough when it uncovered and busted an Improvised Explosives Device, IED/gun manufacturing factory at Osomba community in Akampka Local Government Area of the State.
The covert operation Police sources said was led by the Commander, Anti Cultism and kidnapping Squad, ACKS, (Dragon Squad), SP Ogini Chukwuma, on the orders of the State Commissioner of Police, CP Gyogon Grimah.
The sources also noted that the operation which lasted for more than four hours led to the recovery of remote controlled Improvised Explosives Devices (IEDs), detonators, other explosive devices, among other several automatic weapons as well as dozens of locally made double barrels and pistols.
Also nine suspects were said to have been arrested including bomb makers during the operations.
A reliable source in the village who pleaded anonymity also told Daylight Reporters that, “most of the guns and weapons used by gangsters and other criminals to terrorise the area mostly come from that place .”
The source added that with the uncovering and arrest of the criminal suspects, Osombo village and its environs would now know peace as many of those who were benefiting from the illicit activity were either in police custody or have ran away from the community.
Speaking to journalists at the State Headquarters of the Command on the development, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Irene Ugbo, who confirmed the development said that, nine persons have been arrested, including a notorious gangster, armed robbery suspect simply identified as Orok Etim otherwise known as “Gowon”. and were now in custody
SP Ugbo also enumerated some of the items recovered from the suspects to include, explosive devices (High explosives 90M); 8 pieces, 60M; 6 pieces , Detonator; 10 pieces and Indicatorsb 15 pieces as well as 10 pieces of remote devices and 10 pieces of battery as power source.
Other items recovered include; G3 automatic machine gun; 2 pieces, 3 pump actions, MAC 4, automatic rifles; 5 pieces , 5 locally fabricated pistols , LAR riffle, fabricated revolver, locally made Beretta Pistol, 650 rounds of 7.6×51 LAR ammunition, 29 rounds of 7.62×39 AK-47 ammunition X 70 pieces of cartridges amongst others.
She further said the suspected terrorists who were also involved in gun running and armed robbery would be charged to court as soon possible as investigation was ongoing at the moment.
“Once we are done with our investigation, they will be charged to court , this is a pure act of terrorism, for them to be making explosives right inside a community with highly sophisticated remote donators , indicators and so on.
“ It is a huge breakthrough for the Command and we are not relenting in our quest to sanitize the state and make Cross River the safe haven that it is; as a matter of fact, we are taking the war to these criminals,” she empasised.
