Anambra: Police arrest notorious kidnapper, ‘Obele’ after five years in hiding

Operatives attached to the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, of the Anambra State Police Command, have arrested a notorious kidnapper, Olisa Oyelu, popularly known as Obele.

Obele has been in hiding since 2021 when members of his gang were arrested after a victim died during a kidnap operation.

The suspect, who was then only 21, was described as very deadly and nicknamed ‘Obele’, which meant small boy in Igbo language, because of his small frame and tender age.

A statement by the Anambra State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, said since the suspect escaped five years ago, he has been in hiding and unaware that he was being tracked.

The statement read, “In the early hours of 23rd September 2026, Olisa Oyelu alias Obele ‘M’, aged 25 years, was arrested. He is the last identified member of the notorious armed robbery and kidnapping gang led by a suspected criminal known as ‘Pincode’in connection with a 2023 kidnapping incident which resulted in the death of the victim.

“The Command at the conclusion of the investigative proceedings shall handover Olisa Oyelu to the Correctional Centre where Pincode and four others are already being remanded awaiting the judgement of the court.”

Ikenga said the arrest followed sustained intelligence gathering and painstaking investigation by police operatives.

He said the command views the arrest as a significant development in the ongoing investigation and reiterates its commitment to ensuring that all persons found to have participated in the crime are brought to justice.