Rivers police arrest suspected cultists for burying man alive

The Rivers State Police Command has arrested two notorious kidnappers who allegedly abducted and buried alive a former Community Development Committee Chairman in Kereken-Boue, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, Praise Daakian.

The police disclosed that the suspects collected N200,000 as part of payment for the ransom from the victim’s wife before burying him alive.

The state Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, disclosed this during his maiden news briefing in Port Harcourt, the state capital on Monday.

While noting that the suspects confessed to the murder, Disu said two armed robbery suspects were also arrested during a raid in the community.

He stated, “On the day of resumption, I had before me a security deficit in many areas of Rivers State. One of those areas was Khana Local Government, and we immediately deployed tactical units to quell the situation.

“After concluding intense surveillance on November 15, in separate crack operations, men of the Anti-Cultism Unit arrested Baridapdo Igia, 33, and Elvis Gordon, 26, two suspected armed robbers and kidnappers in Kereken-Boue community of Khana Local Government Area.

“After a series of interrogations, the duo confessed to being leaders of Iceland and Degbam cult groups in Khana Local Government Area, respectively and have been terrorising Khana Local Government Area for the past three years.

“These cult groups have been known to have endless clashes in the community. During interrogations, they also admitted to kidnapping and burying alive one Praise Daakian, a former CDC Chairman in Khana Local Government Area.

”They murdered the victim after collecting the sum of NGN200,000 as part of payment for his ransom from the victim’s wife.”

He added, “The duo also confessed to murdering nine other victims from 2021 to 2023 and were the main reason for the partial evacuation of the community within this same period.

“Investigations are still ongoing to uncover the full scale of the suspects’ operations.”

In a similar development, the CP said three suspected armed robbers were arrested by operatives on routine patrol in the Trans-Amadi axis of Port Harcourt.

He said, “Operatives of the Command attached to Mini-Okoro Area Command, Port Harcourt, on 19th November 2023, at about 2200hrs while on patrol along Danjuma Drive, Trans Amadi, Port Harcourt, intercepted a Tricycle (popularly called Keke) with three occupants named Elsharawy Joseph, 27, Okujagu town, Trans Amadi, Port Harcourt.

“The others are Thankgod Achese, 23yrs of Orumu street, Abuloma town, Port Harcourt and Ibrahim Ishaq aged 25, of Okwujagu, Port Harcourt, suspected to be cultists and armed robbers.

“Upon a thorough search, one locally made Pistol and a dagger were recovered, alongside the tricycle which is suspected to be stolen. The suspects confessed to the crime of robbery using the ‘one chance’ model and have successfully robbed and stolen phones and valuables from unsuspecting victims.

“They use their tricycle (Keke) along Odili Road and Abuloma areas to search for passengers to rob and push the passengers out after forcibly taking their valuables. They owned up to using a dagger and a locally made pistol to scare their victims. They obtained the pistol from one Nkpogeto, who is still at large.”

CP Disu stated that combating crime and criminality in our society is a collective responsibility and called residents of the State to support the police by providing credible and timely information to enable the command to do more exploits.