Delta State Police Command says it arrested 85 suspects and recovered 32 firearms between April 29 and June 29, 2026, as part of an intensified campaign against kidnapping, cultism, armed robbery and drug trafficking across the state.
Commissioner of Police Yemi Oyeniyi disclosed the figures at a quarterly press briefing on Monday, crediting the results to intelligence-led raids, stop-and-search operations and improved surveillance.
Among the highlights, operatives arrested 45-year-old Shehu Malami at Ogor Market, Ughelli, on April 29, recovering an AK-47 rifle and 63 rounds of ammunition from a hideout he led police to in Agbarha-Otor. Police say Malami belongs to a syndicate linked to kidnappings across Ughelli, Agbarho, Sapele and Warri, with the hunt for accomplices ongoing.
In a separate case, two suspects, 16-year-old Iliyasu Hassan and 32-year-old Idris Abdulkarim, were arrested on June 22 after they left a forest hideout to buy food and medicine, following a failed kidnapping attempt days earlier. A victim from an earlier incident identified them.
A State Anti-Kidnapping Unit operation on May 18 in Ubulu-Okiti forest came under attack from a fleeing gang, who left behind an AK-47 rifle with five rounds of ammunition.
In what police called a breakthrough, a three-year-old child abducted by the motorcyclist hired to take him to school was rescued unharmed on May 18. The suspect, Kelvin Ogaga, had demanded ₦500,000 in ransom; police recovered ₦127,000 of that sum on arrest.
Police also detailed two high-profile killings. A University of Port Harcourt final-year law student, Habibatu Aruwa, 21, was stabbed to death in Warri on June 24, allegedly by her boyfriend after she discovered he was already married to a woman in the United States. The suspect, Adedamola Michael Oyewole, 31, is in custody.
In the second case, the driver of Bishop Chinedu Okonkwo was arrested in Anambra State on May 13 — a day after the cleric’s killing in Ibusa — while trying to sell his employer’s Land Cruiser. Investigators say the suspect had a prior record of vehicle theft from a previous employer in Rivers State. He has since been charged with murder.
Cultism and firearms
The Command’s Anti-Cultism Unit raided a hideout in Ibusa on June 19, arresting two suspected cultists and recovering a pump-action gun, a cutlass, charms and suspected illicit drugs.
In its largest single haul, the Violent Crime Response Unit arrested 25 suspected cultists during a raid on a cult initiation ground at Agbarho on June 16, after members of the Eiye Confraternity allegedly opened fire on officers. Two suspects were shot and wounded; a shotgun and a cut-to-size firearm were recovered.
A separate raid on a hideout known as “Best Lodge” in Oko Community on April 27 led to 14 arrests and the recovery of a locally made firearm, cartridges, weapons and suspected Indian hemp.
Elsewhere, a joint operation near the Customs Checkpoint on the Benin-Asaba Expressway on May 2 yielded an AK-47, a Beretta pistol and six rounds of ammunition.
The Violent Crime Response Unit also broke up a drug distribution point in Amukpe, Sapele, arresting two suspects, Onyedikachi, 40, and Edna Karaki, 36 and seizing Tramadol, codeine, MDMA and several other controlled substances.
According to the Command, the quarter’s cumulative tally includes 4 kidnapping suspects, 18 rescued victims, 5 murder suspects, 76 cultism suspects (46 already charged to court, 30 under investigation), and 7 drug suspects (5 charged). In total, 85 suspects were arrested.
Firearms recovered totalled 32, including three AK-47 rifles, four pump-action guns, two Beretta pistols and 17 locally made single-barrel guns. Police also seized 197 rounds of AK-47 ammunition and 219 live cartridges, alongside a range of drugs including Tramadol, MDMA, Rohypnol and cannabis.
CP Oyeniyi said the Command remains “resolute in its determination to make Delta State hostile to criminals,” and urged residents to keep sharing credible information with police.
