A robbery suspect, James Peters, has told operatives of the
Inspector-General of Police (IG), Ibrahim Idris, Special Intelligence
Response Team (IRT) that he and his gang members planned to attack Port
Harcourt Air Force Base to snatch N40 million being ferried by an Arik
Airline plane.
Peters (30) was arrested on Monday in Port Harcourt,
Rivers State after three of his members were killed.
The suspect confessed that the gang, led by his biological brother,
Newman, with his brother-in-law, Timi, were about to embark on the
operation, when they had a gun duel with IRT operatives, leading to the
death of three. Those killed are Timi, Michael and Diepreye.
According to Peter, the gang got information about the N40 million
aboard Arik Airline flight through an insider, working with the airline.
The insider also told them that the money would land at Port Harcourt
Air-Force Base, otherwise known as Air Assault, on Monday.
Peters said that his elder brother, Newman, got the information from
the airline worker and passed it to Timi, the second in command of the
gang. Newman is married to Timi’s sister. Peter recalled that the gang
met at a popular hotel on Bonny Street in Port Harcourt, on Sunday, on
how the operation would go.
He said: “It was agreed at the meeting that the gang would go on the
operation with two vehicles, a General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) and
three AK47 rifles to strike at the Port Harcourt Air Force Base.”
Timi, Michael and Diepreye, who are now deceased, would be the first
to strike at the Port Harcourt Air Force Base, with the GPMG, an AK47
rifle and grenades to dispossess the airline of the money while Peter,
Newman and their driver would provide backup using three AK47 rifles.
He added: “The gang had planned to escape through the Nembe
Waterside, where it had a speed boat waiting in the creek with the
stolen money. We had concluded our plans and all went for the operation.
I didn’t go with them. I don’t know how the police intercepted and
killed them in the process.
I was trailed and arrested in my house. I have told the police that I
was not part of the gang. “My brother only invited me to the gang’s
meeting at the hotel in Bonny. I became fully aware of the gang’s plan
to rob the airline. It was Timi who brought the GPMG to our house a few
days before he was killed.
We hid the gun and its ammunition in a drum. When it was time for
Newman, Michael and Diepreye to go to the Air Force Base, they brought
the drum containing the GPMG and it ammunition to Nembe waterside. A
woman assisted them in carrying it with a truck to the hotel, where it
was loaded into the gang’s vehicle, before leaving for Port Harcourt Air
Force Base.’’
A police source said: “The gang met its waterloo after the IG
received complaint on their nefarious activates, which include armed
robbery, kidnapping and sea piracy around the Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa
waterways.
The gang came on police spotlight three weeks ago after it killed
three policemen attached to the Marine Police Unit of the Rivers State
Police Command during gun battle along Onne Waterways.”
IG deployed his operative at the IRT led by a Chief Superintendent of
Police (CSP), Abba Kyari, to Port Harcourt, to trail and arrest the
gang. The IRT operatives discovered while working undercover, that the
suspects were planning to attack Port Harcourt Air Force Base.
The source added: “Our men trailed them to TUC junction, where there
was an exchange of gun fire. Three of the suspects lost their lives,
while a GPMG, rounds of ammunition, an AK47 rifle and two loaded
magazines were recovered.”
The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), DCP Don Anuwah, said:
“Acting on credible intelligence and public support, on November 29, the
IRT intercepted a four-man gang of heavily armed kidnappers, notorious
for terrorising the waterways and kidnapping in Rivers and Bayelsa
states, along Azikiwe Road, Port Harcourt, Rivers State on their way for
an operation.
A gun duel ensued, after which three of the kidnappers were fatally
wounded, while one James Peter was arrested. The suspect has since been
cooperating with the police in its investigation by providing valuable
information on the membership of the gang and their modus of operation.”
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