The Rivers State Police Command has arrested three suspected kidnappers who allegedly murdered two victims after collecting a total ransom of N10.4m.
The command said the breakthrough followed a distress call over the abduction of one Humphrey Wagbara in Igwuruta-Atali, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.
Police spokesperson, Grace Iringe-Koko, in a statement on Monday, said operatives of the Anti-Cultism Unit stormed the suspects’ hideouts in Obio/Akpor and Ikwerre LGAs, where the trio were arrested.
The suspects, identified as Hassan Mohammed, 20, of Mandagali, Adamawa State; Bello Abubakar, 25, of Sokoto State; and Yusuf Ahmed, 23, of Hazari, Bauchi State, confessed to several kidnappings in Port Harcourt and its environs.
Iringe-Koko said the suspects admitted to abducting Onwuli Jude and Nwabueze Nchekwube on September 24, 2025, at School Road, Igwuruta-Atali, where they collected N6.9m before killing Nchekwube. They also confessed to kidnapping one Mercy Chinyere on September 12, 2025, at the same location, releasing her only after collecting N3.5m.
Recovered exhibits include a G-3 rifle (Breech No. 10398) with a magazine, an Itel phone belonging to Wagbara, three short daggers, a jack knife, and a stainless short knife.
The Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Adepoju, praised the operatives’ bravery and urged residents to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities to security agencies.
