Rivers police crack squad kills four suspected kidnappers, rescues victim

Rivers State Police Command, now led by Musa Kimo, has again announced the killing of another set of kidnappers including an alleged kidnap kingpin believed to have killed a divisional police officer (DPO) few days earlier.

In a kind of fire-for-fire with the killers, the police, who had killed a gang of four in Yeghe (near Bori) and rescued the registrar of the Bori Polytechnic, has now proved another point with the gun.

According to the police spokesman in the state, Ahmed Muhammadu, the police came out highly successful in two combat incidents with men of the underworld in the past two days.

The first led to the arrest of two persons described as ‘notorious armed robbers’ who allegedly confessed to have been involved in series of armed robberies and kidnappings in Port Harcourt and environs including the recent gruesome murder of theCSP, one Cliff Igwegbe. Until his death fortnight ago, the police officer was the divisional police officer (DPO) of Rumuokoro Division.

The named the detained suspects Prince Essien, Hosanna Nse, and Clever Idaminabor, 27, believed to be leader of the gang, was fatally wounded in the shootout that ensued when policemen raided their alleged hideout at Location Road, Ada George, Port Harcourt.

The police declared recovered items recovered from the suspects as two AK 47 rifles, one assault rifle, 119 rounds of live ammunition and seven magazines.

Muhammadu further recalled that the late Igwegbe was murdered while two other policemen sustained minor injuries when his killers ambushed and opened fire on them when they responded to a distress call.

On Saturday, December 12, 2015, at about 4pm, the police received a distress call at from a ‘patriotic Nigerian’ that kidnappers broke into the house of one Ken Livinus at Rukpokwu and whisked him away in his Toyota Lexus jeep.

The PPRO said teams of policemen quickly responded and pursued the fleeing kidnappers towards Aluu/Airport Road and engaged them. “The confrontation led to the safe rescue of the victim while four unidentified kidnappers were fatally wounded.  The victim’s vehicle, a Golf Volkswagen car belonging to the kidnappers, three locally made pistols and twelve cartridges were recovered after the rescue operation”.

The police, which has recorded a string of successes since the arrival of Kimo in September 2015, has therefore appealed to the people of Rivers State to remain hopeful, confident and trusting in the ability of the Command to consolidate the gains of the current onslaught on criminals and their nefarious activities.