Police Recover Remains Of Abducted Retired Army Captain …Arrest Three Suspected Kidnappers In Rivers …Nab Two Females Over Killing Of Two Officers

The Rivers State Police Command has recovered the remains of a retired Army Captain and an indigene of Plateau State, Godfrey Zwallamark.
Aged 64 years, he was kidnapped by a four-man kidnap gang in September, and dumped at Rumuokurusi area in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.
This is even as operatives of the Octopus Strike Force, a crack team of the Rivers State Police Command have also arrested two females in a six-man criminal gang, who allegedly killed two policemen at Emenike Street in the Diobu axis of Port Harcourt City Local Government Area of Rivers State, last week.
Briefing journalists at the scene of the incident, yesterday, the state Commissioner of Police, Eboka Friday, said the incident occurred on September 18, 2021 but was reported to the police a month later.
He added that as soon as the matter was reported to the police, the operatives swung into action, and through due intelligence and investigation, three of the suspects out of the four-member gang were arrested.
Eboka gave the names of the alleged kidnappers as Frank Ishie from Kwale, in Delta State;Iwuji Reginald from Imo State; and GombaOkparaji from ElemeLocal Government Area of the state.
He disclosed that the suspects had demanded the sum of N200million as ransom from the family of the retired Army Captain before killing him.
The Rivers State police boss said that the family had demanded to speak with the victim before they could make payment, and advised members of the public to always report every incident of kidnapping or any other crimes to the police on time.
He said that if the incident was reported on time, the police would have saved the situation.
The commissioner advised youths to abstain from any forms of crime that are detrimental to societal development, adding that there was no benefit in it.
Speaking to journalists at the scene of the crime, one of the suspects and leader of the team, Frank Ishie, confessed to the crime, and explained that the victim was kidnapped at Agbonchia in Eleme.
Ishie added that he shot the victim on the leg, and he bled to death because he was proving stubborn to their command.
He told journalists that after the victim’s kidnap at Agbonchia in ElemeLocal Government Area of Rivers State, he was taken to New Layout,off Igbo-Etche Road in Rumuokurusi,Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state.
The suspect also confessed that he had carried out four successful kidnap operations across the state, and made about N1.5million in the operations, adding that all the victims were taken to their hideout somewhere off Igbo-EtcheRoad.
Also speaking, Mr GombaOkparaji said he was contacted by the gang, adding that the intention was to collect ransom and not to kill him.
Similarly, operatives of the Octopus Strike Force, a crack team of the Rivers State Police Command have also arrested two females in a six-man criminal gang, who allegedly killed two policemen at Emenike Street in the Diobu axis of Port Harcourt City Local Government Area of Rivers State, last week.
According to an eyewitness account, one of the criminal suspects was fatally wounded during the operation while a police inspector also lost his life.
The Tide learnt that one of the police officers popularly called ‘2Face’ paid the supreme prize during the operation that lasted over four hours penultimate Tuesday morning.
It was further gathered that operatives of Octopus Strike Force of the command, acting on credible intelligence, invaded the hideout of the criminal suspects around Nkpor community in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area where the hoodlums engaged them in a gun battle that lasted over four hours at about 4am in early hours of Tuesday morning.
The incident claimed the life of a police inspector and one of the criminal suspects while six others, including two females were arrested.
Also, a police service riffle that was taken away by the hoodlums during the killing of the police officers was recovered.
When contacted on phone, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Nnamdi Omoni, said he was yet to be briefed on the matter.

By: Akujobi Amadi