Community stakeholders absolve SPACS of allegations, hail police for raiding criminals’ den

By NWEKE NWEKE, AWKA

Some Ukwulu community stakeholders, Dunukofia local government area of Anambra State have dusted the allegations of unethical practice leveled against the Special Anti-Cultism Squad, SPACAS, Obosi Sector, Anambra State, describing the allegations as malicious and a paid article targeted to discredit the anti- cult warlords.

Calling on the members of the public to discard the said malice outcry of the activists, published in one of the nation’s national dailies online, the spokesperson of the stakeholders’ who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of being attacked said the raid of a family house in Ukwulu community came through a confessional statement made by one of the suspects previously arrested and later led the SPACES to their den where notable criminal activities are being practiced.

The stakeholders while reacting to the said newspaper online publication (Daily Sun) said the publication misrepresented the arrest cum interrogation of some youths accused of hiding under the students of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam, to operate a high degree and scientific criminalities even as the stakeholders urged members of the public and police hierarchies to discard the said malicious publication.

“We read with dismay on Sun online a statement credited to a reputable human rights group, (Intersociety) as published by The Sun, we found out that it was done under malice and hatred as the police angle was not represented.

“How do Intersociety expect the suspects that are known in our community for notorious behaviors to accept their involvement in cultism, internet fraud, and other criminal-related offenses? We even learnt that substances suspected to be hard drugs were recovered from some of the arrested suspects.

“The coming of the Anti-Cultism Squad to our community was designed by God as some of the youths arrested are deeply involved in cultism, internet fraud, and other criminal-related offenses.

We were told that the SPACAS coming was through a confessional statement of a suspect arrested for cultism within the area of jurisdiction of the SPACAS, Obosi Sector.

“We learnt also that the Anti-Cultism men arrested 24 suspects in Ukwulu on the said date, took them to Obosi where they were properly screened according to their respective alleged involvement of each of them, some who were arrested in an error were allowed unconditionally while others suspected to be deeply involved were granted bail pending when they will be charged to court.

“The alleged extortion of over N1.2M from the suspects was to give a dog a bad name to hang it. Otherwise, how can those who claimed they were students pay such huge sums of money when the human rights body claimed they intervened before the suspects were granted bail?

“Let it not be that the human rights body conspired with the suspects to flaw the SPACES image by claiming that they were extorted the said sum from the suspects.” The stakeholders argued.
Recall that SPACAS, Obosi Sector had last Monday stormed the Ukwulu community, launched a serious manhunt on suspected criminal elements, arrested 24 suspects through a tip-off after screening them, and those who were found culpable were granted bail pending the day they will be charged to the court of competent jurisdiction.