Crime
Military Veteran Lauds Synergy Between Aba Power and Abia Communities
Nigerian electricity distribution companies (DisCos) have been advised to study the type of cooperation between Aba Power, Nigeria’s 12th and newest power distribution firm, and various communities in Abia State to learn how to protect their assets which are frequently vandalised across the country.
A security consultant, Air Commodore Nicholas Orjiudeh (retired), gave the advice in Aba today while speaking to journalists.
“The deep cooperation between the power firm and the communities has led to a series of arrests in recent times of young men vandalising the power infrastructure in nine out of the 17 local government areas in Abia State serviced by Aba DisCo”, Air Commodore Orjiudeh, also an engineer, stated.
“Due to the impressive cooperation, two neighbourhood watches have just caught the same day in two communities the leaders of two gangs of robbers notorious for attacking transformers and armoured cables and other vital power components. They were caught in action”.
He gave the names of the two robbery gang leaders as one Ifeanyi, a 27-year-old man with no visible means of livelihood, and Ezinwa Amanze, a 38 year -old jobless person from Umuekwe village in Aro Ngwa, Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area.
According to Commodore Orjiudeh, Ifeanyi was attacking power facilities on Umuimo Avenue, off the famous Aba-Owerri Road in Aba, when the local vigilante service saw him and quickly pounced on him while his colleagues fled.
It was easier to catch Ifeanyi than his colleagues because of his reputation in the locality as a robber.
Amanze was apprehended while vandalising the power infrastructure at Isiala Osokwu in Isiala Ngwa South LGA.
Regius Amaechi, a retired commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) who now works as the Deputy Chief Security Officer at Geometric Security Service, confirmed to correspondents that the two vandals were arrested by members of different neighbourhood watches who handed them over to his service.
He stated: “After interrogation, we handed over Ifeanyi to the Rapid Response Squad of the Nigeria Police Force while Amanze was handed over to the Anti-Kidnapping Squad in Aba”.
Both suspects are being tried at magistrate courts in Aba.
Air Commodore Orjiudeh noted that the spate of electricity vandalism in the Aba Ring-Fenced Area used to be much higher but was reduced significantly by a mechanism which the management of Aba Power introduced after it commenced operations in the Aba Ringed Area late last year.
“Just the way the police authorities now emphasise community policing to enhance security in the country”, he continued, “ is the way electricity distribution companies should be focusing on working with communities where their assets are located to protect them because official security agents cannot be everywhere.
“The locals are in an excellent position to provide intelligence which organisational or official security agents can act on quickly”.
While decrying vandalism against critical public assets like telecommunication cables, petroleum pipelines and electricity infrastructure whose social and economic costs are almost incalculable, Orjiudeh counselled various organisations affected by the criminal acts to borrow a leaf from “a new company like Aba Power to reduce the menace significantly”.
Crime
Police Arrest 32 Suspected Bandits in Kwara Forest Crackdowns
the operation targeted criminal hideouts in forest areas around Awi, Kaiama, Patigi, and Babanla, where the suspects were allegedly involved in kidnapping, cattle rustling, and other violent crimes
Photo: IGP Tunji Disu
The Kwara State Police Command has arrested thirty two suspected bandits during intelligence-led operations targeting criminal networks operating in forest corridors across the state.
The police said that two of those arrested are foreign nationals from Niger Republic who are suspected to have collaborated with local bandits in cross-border criminal activities.
The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, disclosed that the suspects were apprehended during coordinated raids carried out by operatives of the Kwara State Police Command and detectives of the Intelligence Response Team.
The police assures that the suspects will be thoroughly investigated and prosecuted.
She explained that the operation targeted criminal hideouts in forest areas around Awi, Kaiama, Patigi, and Babanla, where the suspects were allegedly involved in kidnapping, cattle rustling, and other violent crimes.
Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, during an operational visit to Kaiama, commended officers of the command and the Intelligence Response Team for what he described as a successful operation against forest-based criminal gangs.
Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) on Friday 6, at Eha-Amufu and Umuhu in Isi-Uzo Local Government Area, Enugu State, arrested a suspected notorious Eastern Security Network (ESN) commander, Sabastine Odo Odam, and Ejike Daniel, a suspected member of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Security sources revealed that the arrest followed months of sustained intelligence gathering on activities of the suspects.
The arrests came on the heels of series of violent attacks on police stations and killings between 2024 and 2026, all in Isi-Uzo LGA.
“Both men have confessed to being masterminds of a chain of attacks on police stations and carting away of weapons. The attacks include the February 26 killing of 11 labourers, and that of five policeman between December 24, 2025 and January 26, 2026.
“The arrests represent a major success for the DSS in the fight against insecurity in the southeast and country at large,” remarked the source.
Residents of Isi-Uzo LGA expressed excitement as news of the arrests filtered in. Many noted that the arrests will restore some peace to the affected communities.
Both suspects are currently in the custody of the DSS and awaiting arraignment in court, the source added.
A Federal High Court in Abuja has discharged and acquitted suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Abba Kyari of a 23-count charge alleging non-declaration of assets, brought by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
In a judgment delivered on Thursday, March 5, 2026, Justice James Omotosho ruled that the prosecution failed to establish its case beyond reasonable doubt against Kyari and his co-defendants, including his two brothers.
The judge held that the NDLEA did not provide sufficient evidence to prove that the disputed properties allegedly linked to Kyari belonged to him or that he failed to declare them. He described aspects of the case as unsubstantiated and lacking credible proof.
This acquittal pertains specifically to the asset declaration and related allegations. Kyari continues to face separate ongoing charges, including those related to drug trafficking matters.
Kyari, once celebrated as a top police investigator, has been suspended amid multiple legal battles. The ruling marks a significant development in one of his high-profile cases.
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