The Anambra State Police Command has arrested a 25-year-old man, Friday Anyikame, described as a suspected member of a proscribed secessionist group, during an early-morning intelligence-led operation in the Ihiala Local Government Area of the state.

In a statement on Friday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, said operatives of the Rapid Response Squad, Awkuzu, apprehended the suspect and recovered two pump-action firearms and 29 live cartridges.

Ikenga said the arrest followed heightened security surveillance and raid operations ordered by the Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu, across the state.

The statement read partly, “The Anambra State Police Command has arrested a suspected member of a proscribed secessionist group following an intelligence-led operation on November 20, 2025.

“Police operatives attached to the Rapid Response Squad, Awkuzu, apprehended one Friday Nnamdi Anyikame, 25, in Ihiala and recovered two pump-action firearms and 29 live cartridges.

“During interrogation, the suspect confessed to being an active member of an armed group and revealed that he operates from a criminal camp located in Ogbaru LGA.”

Ikenga added that the CP, while commending the operatives for their swift and coordinated action, ordered an immediate intensification of security surveillance and targeted raid operations across the state.

He quoted the CP as assuring residents that the command was “closing in on other fleeing members of the gang and determined to dismantle their criminal network in Anambra.”

He urged residents to remain vigilant and continue to provide the police with timely and actionable information to support ongoing operations.

PUNCH Online reported in October that the Anambra State Police Command arrested another suspected member and alleged informant of a secessionist group, 62-year-old Bernard Odinchefu, who was said to be coordinating a major extortion network in parts of Ihiala LGA.

Odinchefu was reportedly responsible for collecting illegal levies from traders in Isseke and Orsumoghu communities — N10,000 and above monthly from each trader, and N100,000 and above from families organising burials.

The police said he remitted the proceeds to his commander in a terrorist camp before he was arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad, Awkuzu. (The PUNCH)