The Delta State police command and an activist, Comrade Derrick Agberen, have disagreed over the six young men nabbed by the police in Ekpan over alleged criminal activities.
The police command’s public relations officer, Bright Edafe, claimed that the suspects, Aaron Okorigwe, 27 years and five others could not prove that they were vigilantes and hunters and were therefore taken into custody.
Edafe said they were hoodlums who operate under the guise of being members of a hunters’ group from Ovwian Aladja, but sneaked into Ekpan community in a Sienna vehicle, robbed and kidnapped innocent residents. He said after robbing them, the detained persons run to hibernate in Ovwian Aladja.
But Agberen said the six detainees were members of the Federal Hunters Group, a local security outfit in the state and called on the police to investigate the matter thoroughly.
While calling on the state commissioner of police, Ari Muhammed Ali to investigate the arrested “hunters/vigilantes” to ensure that they were not wrongly accused, Agberen said the suspects had been working with the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Ovwian Division and Burutu Area Command both in Udu local government area of Delta State.
Agberen stated that the said local federal hunters operatives have been of great assistance to the Nigeria Police Force in combating crimes such as kidnapping, armed robbery and cultism in the area which the people in Udu as well as the Police Division and Area Command can testify of their efforts in reducing crime in the area.
Edafe however said on suspicion, they were searched and three pump action guns, four locally-made guns, one long axe, seven expended cartridges, nine live cartridges, native charms, three cutlasses, two number plates were recovered from them.
He said following the findings, the divisional police officer (DPO) invited three victims (names withheld), who were at various times victims of armed robbery and kidnapping in the area and placed the suspects on identification parade.
“The victims identified the suspects as the syndicate that robbed and kidnapped them. Investigation is ongoing,” Edafe said.
