A combined team of security agents has arrested a “fake pastor” accused of preparing amulets for a criminal gang in Anambra State, southeastern Nigeria.
Anambra State Police Spokesman Tochukwu Ikenga made the disclosure in a statement on Thursday.
Mr Ikenga, a police superintendent, said the “fake pastor” was arrested along with a suspected member of an unnamed separatist group.
However, he did not provide the identity of the suspects.
The police spokesman said the two suspects were arrested on Thursday by the security team comprising personnel from the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps and other security forces.
He said the arrest of the suspects was a follow-up to an investigation into a kidnapping incident in the Aguata Council Area that was earlier reported to the state police in 2023.
Mr Ikenga said the two arrested suspects, known to terrorise the state, had been involved in kidnappings, car thefts and armed robberies in the state.
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He said the suspects had been operating in Uga, Ekwulobia, Umuchu, Nkpologwu, Ezinifite, all communities in Aguata Local Government Area of the state.
The spokesman said the arrested suspects have confessed to the crime and were also assisting police with information that will help in the arrest of other suspects.
“The suspects have also provided information about the location of the shrine where they prepare the amulets and some stolen vehicles,” he said.
Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Nnaghe Obono, assured residents of the state that the police were working on all reported cases of kidnapping and armed robbery, Ikenga said.
Mr. Obono stressed that the police in the state would continue to work hard to repay the trust reposed in them by the residents of the state by protecting their lives and properties.