Segun Atanda/
Apparently, millions of Naira from Federal Government’s Amnesty program was not enough for Prosper David, a dreaded militant whose gang has just been smashed by the police.
Known as the Militant General, David wanted to get richer or die trying.
The police told NewsmakersNG today that he has been killed during a shootout in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
According to the police, one AK47 rifle, one magazine, 26 rounds of live ammunition, four expended ammunition and a Nokia phone belonging to a kidnap victim with which ransom negotiation was done were recovered from him.
The police, who also described David as a Sea Pirate, said that the militant couldn’t stay away from crime for long after he embraced the Amnesty program.
He was found to have masterminded the November 22, 2017 kidnap of one Mrs Tina Bob-Manuel in her shop at 107 Nvuigwe Road, Woji, in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, among several others that had set detectives, led by ACP Abba Kyari, on his trail.
NewsmakersNG learnt that on February 21, at about 10:45 a.m, officers from the Intelligence Response Team traced David to Bayelsa State, where he was fatally injured during gun battle.
Police told NewsmakersNG in a chat: “Suspect went underground after the collection of ransom in two installments, and when he sensed that the Police were closing in on him, he dropped his contact number known to his personal driver that was earlier arrested by the Police and relocated his family from Victory Estate, Azikoro, Yenagoa, in December 2017, to the Creek, all in a bid to avoid arrest.
“After about 90 days of painstaking intelligence gathering with technical assistance support from TIU, suspect was tracked to Asiri area of Yenagoa, in Bayelsa State, to his new rented apartment. On sighting the operatives, he ran into the ceiling from where he engaged the operatives, but he was neutralized and fatally injured.”
Suspects arrested for the kidnappings included one Johnson Denis, the driver to the suspected kidnap kingpin, and the victim’s phone was allegedly recovered from him.
Other suspects were identified as Benjamin Johnson and Anthony Joshua, who were arrested between February 21 and March 14.
Police authorities say serious efforts are on to arrest other gang members and possibly recover more arms.
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