Delta Police Apprehends Notorious Kidnap Kingpin
The outgoing Commissioner of Police, Delta State, Mr Zanna Ibrahim, has revealed that a feared kidnap syndicate terrorizing Isoko, Ughelli, Warri and their environs have been arrested.
The Commissioner of Police said, the group is responsible for the various kidnap cases in the areas whose leader has been on the “watch list of this Command”, assuring that his arrest and confession has led to the apprehension of other suspects who equally have confessed to the crime.
The Police boss gave the revelation at the weekend while briefing journalists in Asaba, disclosing that the bandits have been involved in several kidnap incidents, “including the murder of the late Police Area Commander, Ughelli ACP Usman Ndanbobo”.
Zanna who said the leader of the dreaded group, Anthony Obolor known as Dracula, a resident of 1 Omodigbo Street, Otoide Community, Isoko North local government area of the state, has once been arrested, convicted by the court but was later released.
According to the police, Pastor Frank Otomi, 55 years, Mrs Mofe Otomi, 42 years, both of Efferun and Mrs Regina Ani, 38 years “while driving in a Hyundal Jeep with registration Number LSD 344 ER, along DSC roundabout, Warri, were blocked by unknown hoodlums and whisked away to an unknown destination with the said Jeep”.
He disclosed that while acting on a tip off, a team of operatives attached to “B” Division, Warri, led by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), CSP Aniete Eyo, arrested one Henry Okejere Kessena, a professional driver trained in the act of driving for such purpose in connection with the kidnapping and murder saga.
He listed other members of the kidnap gang to include Kosin Henry, alias Capoun, 36 years of Number 134 Eboh-Iyede Community, also Isoko North local government area and Kenneth Onome, 34 years of Stadium road Ughelli, Ughelli north local government area.
Two of the suspects who spoke in an interview owned up to the crime but appealed to members of the public to forgive them.
The driver, Kessena said “what the police have said is true, they called me to wait for them at a point which I did. The car was handover to me and we went to Ughelli and saw a Jeep at Otovwodo Junction and I blocked it but the occupant was able to revise and escaped from the car. When we checked the car, we saw a Pistol, while we were driving the car away, we saw the man talking with some person at the front and Dracula, shot him. We didn’t know he was a police (the area Commander)”, revealing that he participated in kidnapping once before his arrest.
Dracula, on his part admitted that he is a kidnapper but denied collecting N1 million ransom, “Yes, I am a kidnapper, I don’t want to die. The money I collected is my surveillance money not money from kidnapping proceeds”.
Meanwhile, number of kidnapping cases recorded were nine while 20 suspects were arrested in connection with kidnapping and two kidnap victims were rescued.