Segun Atanda/
Detectives led by ACP Abba Kyari have smashed a gang threatening to kidnap oil workers if they fail to pay N20million ransom in advance and place each member of the gang on a N3million monthly salary.
The police told NewsmakersNG that “sequel to several reports of threat received by Niger Delta Petroleum Resources (NDPR) located in Obumeze Community, Ahoada LGA Rivers by a group named Amalgamated Niger Delta Avengers, operatives of the IGP’s Intelligence Response Team (IRT) deployed to Port Harcourt by IGP Ibrahim K Idris swooped into action and arrested two principal actors who posed as militants and threatened the company.
“The threat messages demanded an initial payment of N20million, with each of the militants placed on monthly salary of N3million; failure to do so would be followed with kidnap, death, vandalism/explosion and attacks on the company’s assets.
Two of the suspects have been arrested and identified by the police as: LoveGod Chinuzioke, 27, and Justice Okolo, 25.
According to the police, Chinuzioke hails from Obumeze Community, Ahoada, in Rivers State. He is from the host community of NDPR and was just granted bail from Port Harcourt Maximum Prison for a case of Armed Robbery and Kidnapping.
“He hatched the idea of extorting money from the company and got contact numbers of the Senior Personnel of NDPR,” says the police.
Okolo hails from Aniocha Local Government Area of Delta State.
“He composed and sent the threat messages to the company. Suspect also admitted belonging to a notorious armed robbery gang terrorising Ahoada and environs and the phone used for the threat was recovered from him,” says the police.
The detectives told NewsmakersNG that efforts were on going to arrest other accomplices at large, hoping to recover arms, ammunition and explosives.