How Police Special Squad Eliminated Nigeria’s Most Dreaded Criminal, ‘Vampire’

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

It was another cheering news as Police Special Force Thursday morning killed most wanted and dreaded kidnap kingpin Henry Chibueze, notoriously known as ‘Vampire’, during a gun duel in Omu Awa Forest in Ikwerre local government area in Rivers State.

Police Spokesman, CSP Jimoh Moshood, said Chibueze was killed by the IGP’s Intelligence Response Team led by ACP Abba Kyari at around 1 a.m. on Thursday.

He said that five suspected members of the gang were also arrested and cache of arms and ammunition recovered from them.

Like an Hollywood crime thriller, on 27 January, 2017, a deadly gun-wielding gang stormed the premises of State High Court in Owerri, Imo State and rescued ‘Vampire’, the notorious and most deadly kidnapper in the history of Nigeria, from the prison officials who brought him to be arraigned.

Vampire, who was brought to the court along with other arrested suspects, escaped when gunmen in a sports utility vehicle which had been parked at the premises opened fire immediately he disembarked from the prison van.

He was then spirited away by the gunmen, leaving five Prisons officials and some bystanders wounded by the gunfire.

Two other suspects were stolen along with him.

The Public Relations Officer of Prisons, Mr James Madugba, said the two accomplices had been mistaken for operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), hence no alarm was raised when they were spotted at the court.

Vampire and his gang were allegedly responsible for the death of hundreds of their victims during so many kidnappings and robbery attacks in Imo, Abia, Rivers, Delta and other states in the South-East and South-South.

He was arrested in 2015 and had been in prison custody following the kidnap of the wife of a government official. He was paraded by the DSS before the state Governor in 2015 and admitted to having carried out several kidnappings in the state and beyond before his arrest.

After Chibueze’s escape in January, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state announced a N5 million bounty for information that would lead to his arrest.

P.M.EXPRESS gathered that the arrested members of Vampire gang are Obinna Elah, 26 years and native of Orlu LGA Imo State and the second in command of the kidnapping gang; Arinze Abecheta, 24 years and native of Ohafia; Chukwu Ebuka Ikeazota, 23 years native of Ohohia Village in Isiala Mbano LGA of Imo State; Samuel Ugochukwu, 24 years native of Ezisno Village in Arochukwu LGA of Abia State and Clifford Aheana of Omu Awa Village.

Police source said the suspects confessed to be members of the deadly gang and further confessed to have been the one who successfully rescued Vampire from the Owerri High Court.

They also confessed to have executed four successful kidnapping operations after the rescue of their gang leader.

A Police Sergeant attached to IRT from Abia State sustained multiple bullet wounds from the kidnappers during the gun battle and already on admission in an undisclosed hospital.

Our correspondent gathered three of the arrested criminals also sustained various degree of bullets wounds.

The police spokesman has assured that the arrested gang members would be presented to newsmen and charged to court on completion of investigation.