A
nine-man kidnap gang has been arrested by operatives of the Inspector-General
of Police, IGP, Special Intelligence Response Team, SIRT, during a five-hour
raid in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The suspects, responsible
for most of the kidnappings that had occurred within GRA Phase 2, Borokiri
General Area and YKC axis of Woji area.
Parading the suspects on
Saturday, the state police spokesperson, DSP Omoni Nnamdi said investigation on
the scale of the operations of the gang was still on, adding that the police
was making efforts to arrest the other fleeing members of the gang.
According to him, the raid
led to the arrest of Daniel Gabriel (33), Alaso Igodo (25), Akeodi Aselemi
(34), Ayibinmotei Livinus (25), Anikuroka Marshal (33), Biebele Elijah (34)
Efiye Anda (34), Daniel Lessor (31) and Isaac Reuben (27), all living within
the Port Harcourt metropolis.
He said: “The string of events which led to the apprehension of the nine
suspects started with the abduction of a woman identified as Mrs. Okotie, who
was kidnapped few weeks ago opposite the Royal House of Grace Church in Port
Harcourt.
“The gang abducted her in the
Mazda car they used as operational vehicle and fortunately for her, the car
broke down along the way and the leader of the gang named Blackie, called for
another vehicle, a Nissan Primera, which arrived shortly after but they did not
know the police had got information about them.
“They were on their way to the
Ornage Waterside when our men intercepted them. As soon as they saw us, they
fled and abandoned the sick woman in the car along with one of their rifles
“Few days after the botched
kidnapping of Mrs. Okotie, SIRT operatives who were following up on a lead,
arrested Gabriel, a taxi driver, around 2pm on the sad day.
“When Gabriel, an Akwa-Ibom
indigene living at Navy Market Borikiri, Port-Harcourt was taken in for
questioning, he confessed that he had personally been involved in 15 kidnaps in
the last few months in the state, then led the police to his house where five
members of the gang were already planning another kidnap.
“We arrested five of his gang
members and from there, we proceeded to Enugu Waterfront where we arrested
Anikuroka Marshal, the gang’s armourer.
“The suspects also identified
Diobele Elijah and Akodi Aselemi as their spies who go around town scouting for
victims. They confessed to have three AK47 rifles, two pistols, which they use
in their operations.”
According to the report, in
one of the kidnaps carried out by the gang, on August 10, 2016, a pastor, Mrs.
Luis Ubah and one Mr. Chika Ezenwa were abducted. The same day, the gang
kidnapped a business woman, Mrs. Ubah in her store, they also grabbed another
victim identified as Ezenwa who was with Ubah at the time.
The four victims were taken
by the gang to the Indoki Estate Waterfront and while on their way to the
waterfront, the gang encountered a police team and instantly opened fire on the
policemen.
Speaking further, the
spokesperson said: “Inspector David Ijosi and one
Corporal Dike Ledee were injured by bullets in the attack. One was hit in the
leg while another was hit in the neck and the kidnappers escaped into the Isaka
creeks in Okrika.
“Soon after, the gang made
contact with Ubah’s husband, Bishop Prince Ubah, from whom they demanded a N50m
ransom for her freedom.
During the ensuing negotiation,
the ransom for the release of the bishop’s wife was reduced to N2.8m and a
place was agreed on for the family to drop the ransom.
“When two brothers of the bishop,
Onyeka Ani and Pastor Okezie Akara, took the money to the agreed place on
August 25, 2016, 15 days after Mrs. Ubah was kidnapped, the gang members
decided to release her along with Ezenwa but kidnapped the two brothers
instead.
“They then demanded another N1m
ransom from the bishop for his brothers. But N750, 000 was eventually paid for
their release.”
In his confession, Gabriel
said, “I met the members of the gang in March 2016. I was plying the Aba Road
looking for passengers one day when they stopped me and entered my taxi. They
asked me to take them to Borikiri in Port Harcourt.
“When we got there, I was
surprised that they paid me more than I demanded and I told them that I wanted
to know more about them. The leader who sat in front passenger seat then gave
me his phone number and said he would like me to work with them.
“Few days later, they invited me
to a hotel in Borikiri and told me what they did. In April,Blackie, the gang
leader, called and asked that I should meet him in his hotel.
When I got there, I met other
members of the gang preparing for an operation. They showed me two bags
containing guns and put it in my car. I then drove them to GRA in Port
Harcourt.
“When we got there, the gang’s
informant said we had missed the target, a woman, who had just left the place.
While leaving, we saw a man driving a nice car and we kidnapped him.
He was taken to the Indoki Estate Waterfront.
We put him in a speed boat and took him to a camp across the river.
“We carried out many kidnappings
and that in August 2016, when we kidnapped Mrs. Okotie, it was like God just
wanted us to be caught. I had no idea what happened to my car, which I
converted from a taxi cab to the gang’s operational vehicle.
“When we were intercepted by the
police that day, we left one gun in the car while escaping while Blackie
escaped with one other rifle.
He gave it to one of our boys,
who normally kept our rifles. But after I was arrested, I took the police to
the boy and they recovered the rifle and my cab.”
Source: The sheet
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