Owerri: Arest of Abaekwume lawful, says Police

The Police in Imo on Monday defended the arrest of Mr Iheanyi Abaekwume, General Manager, Owerri Capital Development Authourity (OCDA) following allegations that his arrest was politically motivated.

In his reaction to the arrest, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media to the governor, Mr Sam Onwuamaodo, in a statement, described the action as 'unlawful and politically motivated.''

Addressing a press conference in Owerri, Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Elvis Abanga, said that Abaekwume was arrested following allegation that he was in possession of dangerous weapons.

“Acting on credible intelligence that the General Manager runs a terror gang using the instrument of state as disguise, the command swooped and arrested him and three others.

“We recovered an automatic pump action gun which is a prohibited firearm, four live cartridges, one police operational belt, a police vest with crested logo and some quantity of weeds believed to be Indian hemp,”  he said.

Abanga said the statement issued by Onwuamaodo portrayed him as “a bare faced hypocrite with blurred knowledge of police operational behaviour.

“The Commissioner of Police does not need to obtain permission from the governor or any other person before carrying out his statutory duties.

“For avoidance of doubt, the Commissioner of Police, Imo state command is not a politician but a core crime-fighter who has been resolute and unrelenting in his war against crime.

“Therefore, any attempt to run down Imo state police command on the basis of falsehood geared to discourage performance and malign genuine efforts of making Imo crime free will rather spur us to greater performance,” Abanga said.