A combined team of security operatives have arrested a “fake pastor” accused of preparing charms for a gang of criminals in Anambra State, Nigeria’s South-east.

The police spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, said the ‘fake pastor’ was arrested alongside a suspected member of an unnamed separatist group.

He did not, however, provide the identities of the suspects.

The police spokesperson said the two suspects were arrested on Thursday by the security team comprising personnel of the Nigerian military, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and other security forces.
He said the arrest of the suspects was a follow-up to an investigation of a kidnap incident in Aguata Council Area which was earlier reported to the police in the state in 2023.

Mr Ikenga said the two arrested suspects, notorious for terrorising the state, had been involved in kidnapping, car snatching and armed robbery in the state.

He said the suspects had been operating in Uga, Ekwulobia, Umuchu, Nkpologwu, Ezinifite – all communities in Aguata Local Government Area of the state.

The spokesperson said arrested suspects have confessed to the crime and were also helping the police with information that will aid arrest of other suspects.

“The suspects have also provided information on the location of the shrine where they prepare the charms and some snatched vehicles,” he said.

The Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Nnaghe Obono, has assured residents of the state that the police were working on all reported cases of kidnap and armed robbery, Mr Ikenga said.

Mr Obono stressed that the police in the state will continue to work hard to repay the confidence reposed on them by residents of the state by protecting their lives and properties.