In what is being heralded as a major achievement, the Rivers State Police Command has neutralised four individuals, including one female, all of whom were suspected members of a notorious gang of kidnappers operating along the Emohua Local Government Area (LGA) axis of the East West Road.
The kingpin, 25-year-old Nwodi Amadi from Elibrada community in Emohua LGA, was neutralised during the operation carried out by the C4i Intelligence team of the Command at about 11 pm on Monday, the Commissioner of Police, Nwonyi Polycarp, told journalists in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
Amadi was wanted for armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism, and other crimes. Arms recovered included one AK-47, one pump action rifle, and one assault rifle along with rounds of live ammunition.
Flanked by some senior police officers from different formations, Polycarp stated that the gang engaged the police in a gun battle at Ogoloma community in the Okrika LGA of the state where they had been hiding.
The CP said, “No hiding place for criminals in Rivers State.”
The Local Government Chairman of Emohua, Chidi Lloyd, who had placed a bounty of N2 million on the head of the kingpin, commended the police commissioner for a job well done, saying the pledge had been redeemed to the police.
Some victims who were rescued from the kidnappers’ den have also been reunited with their families.