Twenty-one crime suspects have reportedly escaped from the Ohafia Divisional Police Headquarters, Ebem Ohafia in Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State.
Seventeen of the suspects were said to have been arrested in Asaga Ohafia community in a dusk to dawn operation by policemen attached to the division.
According to the councilor representing Ohafor Ward 1(Asaga Ohafia) in the Ohafia Local Government Legislative Council, Hon Kalu Nwoke, some of the suspects were arrested with guns and axes.
A woman leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there had been an upsurge of crime and other anti-social activities among youths in the community.
Blaming the situation partly on unemployment and inordinate ambition, she added that it had become a commonsight to see youths smoking Indian hemp in public.
Both the Ohafia Area Commander of the Police, Assistant Commissioner of Police, John Okwuche, and the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Geoffrey Ogbonna, declined to comment on the matter.