The Rivers State Police Command has paraded five suspected kidnappers who killed three undergraduates of the University of Port Harcourt, UNIPORT and Rivers State University.
Their arrest was achieved less than 72 hours after President Buhari ordered the police to fish out the killers to face justice.
The State’s Commissioner of Police, Joseph Gobum Mukan, said the victims, Nelson Nwafor, Fortune Obemba both of the Rivers State University, and Joy Adoki of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), were kidnapped at Choba on the 7th of April, 2020.
Speaking to newsmen, the leader of the gang, Bright Iheachi, said he ordered the killing because one of the victims ran away with his N4 million.
He said the initial target was Nelson Nwafor, who he claims betrayed him and fled to Ghana with his N4 million share of an undisclosed deal they struck last year.
He said he organized for Nelson to be kidnapped. However, on the day of the abduction, Nelson was with Fortune and Joy, who were then abducted along with him.
“I was the person that ordered my colleagues to kill the three of them, but it was Nelson that I had wanted them to kill, but I later changed my mind and decided that the three of them be killed,” he said.
Speaking on the matter, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Nnamdi Omoni, said the command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit, led by its commander, Collins Shadar, a Chief Superintendent of Police, swung into action after the victims’ kidnap was reported to the unit.
He said, “They confessed to kidnapping the three undergraduates and taking them to the forest. They killed them and buried them in a shallow grave. They had earlier demanded ransom before they killed their victims.
“Their confession after they were arrested led us to this forest, where we recovered the bodies of these undergraduates. We have identified the corpses. One is Nelson Nwafor, the female is Joy Adoki, while the other one is Fortune Obimba.”
Omoni added that one AK-47 rifle, one pistol, three magazines and 72 rounds of live ammunition were recovered from the suspects.