Operatives of the Force Intelligence Bureau Response Team (FIBRT), led by a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Abba Kyari, have arrested a five-man gang of kidnappers including a female in Rivers State.
The suspects, upon interrogation, revealed to detectives how they lured men through a popular online dating website known as Tinder to lonely spots where they attacked and dispossessed them of their valuables.
They also confessed to have either shot or strangled some of their victims.
Their arrest was sequel to a petition filed to Kyari by the family of one of the victims, one Michaels Victor.
A police source said Victor’s family had on January 12, 2021, reported to the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) that their son had been missing since January 6, 2021.
Acting on the petition, actionable intelligence and support from the Technical Intelligence Unit, Force Headquarters, Abuja, one of the suspects, a 30-year-old man identified as Eneji Michael (a.k.a. General) was arrested alongside his two accomplices – Nwachukwu Emeka (22) and Success Okeke (27).
One AK-47 rifle and three magazines loaded with 18 rounds of ammunition were recovered from the trio.
The source further revealed that the suspects confessed to have killed the victim the same day they kidnapped him.
They later led the operatives to a forest around Old Onne Road, in Eleme Local Government Area, which was the rendezvous of their nefarious acts.
On getting to the forest, it was discovered that the Divisional Police Officer in-charge of the area, SP Chukwuma Emeka, had already recovered the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary at Okrika General Hospital.
The DPO was said to have received information on January 7 that the body of an unknown person was lying along Old Onne Road, between Nyelek Filling Station and Grabek Kitchen/Bar near Trailer Park.
The gang leader, Michael Eneji, a native of Gakem community in Bekwara Local Government Area of Cross River State, gave a chilling account of his voyage into kidnapping and armed robbery since 2011.
According to him, “I have been involved in kidnapping and armed robbery since 2011 when I got my BSc in Business Administration. I have been operating under the guise of a naval officer.
“I used to tell people that I was a naval personnel because they used to see me wearing Navy uniform all the time.
“In 2011, I was arrested by the Department State Services (DSS) and was charged to court in a case involving receipt of a stolen phone. I was later released from court.
