Rivers Police Recover Assorted Arms, Arrest Fake Inspector, 15 Others For Various Crimes

Emmanuel Nlewedum, Port Harcourt

The Rivers State Police Command said it’s operatives on a sting operation, has recovered a large cache of assorted arms, one vehicle and over 54 stolen refrigerators from criminals including a fake inspector and some dismissed soldiers terrorising the state.

The State Commissioner of Police, CP Olatunji Disu, while briefing Journalists at the police headquarters on Thursday said the command also arrested about sixteen suspects for murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism and other crime related activities in the state.

Parading the suspects, CP Disu said the fake inspector, identified as Fred Monday, aged 31 years,
donning Police camouflage and armed with an AK-47 rifle fully loaded with ten magazines, and twenty-nine rounds of live ammunition, was arrested alongside five suspected cultists and students of Ken Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, during a cult initiation process in forest in Luegbo Community in Khana Local Government Area on August 9, 2024.

The CP who disclosed that Monday, a resident of Port Harcourt, confessed to purchasing the rifle and ammunition from an accomplice, identified as Goodluck aka Boy-J, in 2021, said the five cultists arrested alongside the fake inspector have been charged to court and are currently in a correctional centre.

He said: “Operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Rivers State Police Command responded to an intelligence report of a criminal operation in Luegbo Community in Khana Local Government Area.

“On arriving at the scene, the Police met with an ongoing gruesome Cult initiation process. Five suspects, later found to be students of the Ken Saro Wiwa Polytechnic, were arrested.

“The students, Mduni Clement, Prosper Wonyingipreye, Kunle Joseph, Eken Evans and Isaiah Elisha confessed to being members of the Vikings confraternity. They have been charged in court and are presently in a correctional centre.

“While carrying out the arrest of the five cultists, the Police encountered a man with them, fully dressed in Police camouflage and donning the rank of an Inspector of Police.

“He was armed with an AK-47 rifle, ten magazines and twenty-nine rounds of live ammunition. He was taken into custody and after interrogations, his identity was revealed as Fred Monday, a 31-year-old from Wiiyakara Community in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State and resident at F-man Close, Eneka Link Road, Port Harcourt.

“He confessed to being an impostor who bought the rifle in 2021 for N850,000 from an accomplice, Goodluck aka Boy-J. He also bought ten magazines, thirty-one rounds of ammunition and two hand grenades from the same accomplice.

“He disclosed to the Police how he and other gang members would disguise as Policemen to escort criminals to operate in different states, including Akwa-Ibom, Edo, Delta and Rivers State.”

Similarly, the Rivers Police Commissioner, added that a special team of Operatives from the FID-Intelligence Response Team and the Rivers State Command successfully apprehended nine foot soldiers of late ‘Crime Lord’ in the state known as “Daddy Chukwu”, who were actively participated in the brutal assassination of Chief Ndidi Livingstone, the former Community Development Council (CDC) Chairman of Mgbuoshimini, on January 13, 2024.

CP Disu noted that the suspects; Nnamdi Emmanuel (aka BYC); John Lucas; Adebayo Adebayo; Chimezie Adiele, Ogolo Promise, Chigemezu Anochirimoyanya; Success Oge
Ifeanyi Nwadike; and Sunday Godspower (aka 2baba) were arrested in various locations across the country, following a nationwide manhunt.

The police boss noted that among the suspects, John Lucas; Adebayo Adebayo and Chimezie Adiele claimed to be dismissed soldiers from the Nigerian Army.

He said investigation revealed that the suspects were part of a sophisticated kidnapping and armed robbery gang, responsible for several crimes, including the murder of Chief Livingstone, who was shot four times with AK-47 rifles in front of his church.

He added that the Police recovered a total of two AK-47 rifles; one Assault rifle; two SMG rifles; one Shotgun rifle; 10 magazines; 150 rounds of live ammunition and one Pistol.

CP Olatunji Disu disclosed that the suspects will be charged in court as soon as investigations are concluded, adding that efforts are still ongoing to apprehend more suspects connected to the gang and recover additional arms and ammunition.