Police parade carpenter for concealing gun in a loaf of bread

The Abia State Police Command has paraded a suspected robber, Justice Onyebuchi, 22, a native of Amayi Umuokwu community of the state, for allegedly concealing a locally made short gun and two live cartridges in a long loaf of bread .


According to Police Commissioner, Ibrahim Adamu, the suspect was arrested on August 10, 2014 by eagle-eyed policemen during a stop-and-search operation at Umuikaa- Omoba Road in Isislangwa North council in an Owerri, Imo State – bound commercial vehicle .

Police said upon interrogation the suspect said a friend gave him the loaf of bread but when the said friend’s house in Aba was later invaded by the police he had fled.

According to police, efforts were on to pick up the fleeing accomplice while the suspect will soon be arraigned in the court for illegal possession of fire arms.

Later in an interview, the suspect who claimed he was a carpenter based in Owerri, told PUNCH that he never knew that gun was concealed in the bread .

He said he was invited by his fiend who lived in Aba for a job, and upon completion, the friend gave him that big loaf of bread to keep for him ( friend) in Owerri so he ( friend) could pick it later on his way to the village.

The suspect said he was surprised at the discovery by the police that a gun was hidden in the bread, adding that he later took the police to the friend’s house in Aba to prove his innocence.

Asked the reasonability of accepting to carry a loaf of bread for a friend from Aba to Owerri when in fact such bread could be bought also in Owerri any time , the suspect became incoherent, swearing that he never knew the contents of the bread.

Paraded also by the police were two young mothers, Chinyere Ihuoma, and Patience Mgbechi suspected to be child traffickers .

According to police, both suspects were arrested by operatives on patrol along Umuokpara, Abia Tower on August 23,2014 on their way to Mbaise in Imo State.

Police said Ihuoma was caring a day old baby as well as six month old baby at the same time, a development that attracted the attention of security operatives.

Upon interrogation, she was said to have claimed that both babies belonged to her and her friend sitting next to her in the vehicle, and that they were coming from Port Harcourt to Mbaise to deliver them to one Nkechi Obilor.

But later in an interview, one of the suspects, Mgbechi, 24, told our Correspondent that she was living in Port Harcourt when she became pregnant out of wedlock, but was advised by Ihuoma not to terminate it.

She said after delivery, they decided to go back to their village, Mbaise so their family members could take care of them, denying any involvement in child trafficking .