The Rivers State Security Council has commended the Nigeria Police for arresting the prime suspect of the ritual killings targeted at young women in parts of the state.
Addressing journalists at the Government House, Port Harcourt, after an emergency meeting of the Rivers State Security Council presided over by Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, last Friday, Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Dr Tammy Danagogo, said that the meeting was impressed by the successes recorded by the police in the last few days, especially the arrest of three suspects.
Danagogo said that the meeting commended the painstaking efforts of the Nigeria Police and other security agencies, which have led to improved security across the state.
“The Rivers State Government has absolute confidence in the ability of the police and other security agencies to tackle the challenge posed by these killers who target young women “, Danagogo said.
He said that given the confession by the prime suspect of the killings, he has operated successfully in Lagos and Imo states and evaded arrest, but was apprehended in Rivers State because of the alertness of the police in the state.
“The police and other security agencies in Rivers State are on top of their game because of the support that they receive from the Rivers State Government under the leadership of Governor Wike.
“These successes show that the support given to security outfits like the ‘Operation Sting’ and other covet security initiatives is yielding positive results”, he said.
Danagogo urged members of the public to remain vigilant and support the security agencies with credible information to fish out other accomplices of the suspected criminals.
He said that the Rivers State Security Council advised young women and other residents not to let down their guards despite the arrest of the prime suspect.
The SSG explained that the Rivers State governor directed all the security agencies to step up security alertness across the state, assuring that the administration will continue to provide logistical and financial support for all operations to protect Rivers people.
Earlier, the 39-year old notorious serial killer of women in hotels, Gracious David West, from Buguma in Asari-Toru Local Government Area, had confessed that he had actually killed’ a total of seven people, and started killing from Ikeja, Lagos before moving to Owerri in Imo State and later Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
He confessed that in Port Harcourt, he killed five persons; one in Ikeja and another in Owerri; and survived on the money he stole from the victims’ accounts by using their ATMs cards.
West made the confession, last Friday, while being paraded by the Commissioner of Police, Mustapha Dandaura, at the Rivers State Police Headquarters.
On the motive behind his actions, he said: “I don’t know what always came over me to kill. After I had killed, I would feel remorse and I then I would cry. But after that, the irresistible urge to kill would come over me again. I killed alone.”
About belonging to a cult group, he said… “I was a member of the Degbam cult group, I have since repented. I was not killing for any cult group. I just killed. I don’t know what always came over me to kill.”
On how he had been surviving, he revealed: “The first woman I killed in one of the hotels at Ikeja had about N85,000 in her account.
“Before I strangulated them after love making, I would use knife to cut the hotel bed sheets into a semblance of a twine or rope which I used to bind their hands and feet. I used the knife also to threaten them. The kitchen knife was sold to me by an Aboki. I threatened that if my victims raised alarm I would kill them with the knife. Out of fear, they would keep quiet while I raised the volume of the television set in the hotel room to dwarf any noise. I never killed with the knife.”
West also revealed that before he killed his female victims he insisted on knowing their account balance and ATM pins.
“After strangulating them, I would steal their ATM cards, empty their accounts from any nearby ATM machine and move on. It is not all the girls I slept with that I killed. I killed only whenever the irresistible urge to kill overwhelmed me. l don’t have a house. My mother died through poisoning from her mate and I am homeless. I sleep in hotels.”
He also revealed that he sold the phones he stole from his victims to a customer in Waterlines Junction off Port Harcourt/Aba Expressway and another buyer around MTN office by Oil Mill Market in Port Harcourt.
He also confirmed that he was one of the ex-militants rehabilitated by the Omega Power Ministry (OPM), adding that he secured a job at Federal University of Science and Technology (FUTO), Owerri, through the church but bolted with students’ properties.
The suspect, who at a point broke down in tears also told journalists that he tried to seek spiritual deliverance from Christ Chosen Church.
He was also in Salvation Ministries but to no avail because he couldn’t secure accommodation to follow through.
Dandaura disclosed that his insistence on hotels in the state to install Close-Circuit Television Cameras (CCTVs) had yielded results.
He vowed that the police under his command would fight crimes headlong in the state.
The CP said that following joint operations with the Army and other security agencies, the killings in Ogoniland are dropping, while “I have stabilized East-West Road, the Elele-Owerri Road.
Dandaura called on political gladiators in the state to come together and move the state forward and that the command under him would be nonpartisan in the discharge of its duties.
He stated further: “The suspect is definitely not alone in these killings, though he has made useful confessions but the command will go beyond his confessions to ensure that a conclusive end is achieved that serves the interest of Justice.
He said so far three suspects are in police custody and are being investigated in connection with these killings, assuring that they will be paraded soon as soon as investigations are concluded.
Our correspondent, who was at the police headquarters, observed curiously that despite knowing that he was on the wanted list by the police, he never changed his stripped T-shirt and pair of jeans trousers.
He used to have them washed by the laundry of the hotels he lodged after which he would put them on when dried before checking out.