'Why our plan to attack Air Force, rob Arik Airline N40m failed'

A robbery suspect, James Peters, has told operatives of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris’s Special Intelligence Response Team, IRT that he and his gang members planned to attack Port Harcourt Air Force Base and robbed Arik Airline N40million.

Peters, 30, was arrested last 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 about to embark on the operation, when they had a gun duel with IRT operatives, leading to the death of three.

Those killed have been identified as Timi, Michael and Diepreye.

According to Peter, the gang got information about the N40m onboard Arik Airline through an insider, working with 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 and had meeting at a popular hotel along Bonny Street in Port-Harcourt City, last 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 rob 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 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 to Port-Harcourt air force Base.’’

A police source said: “The gang met its waterloo after the IGP, received complaint on their nefarious activates, which includes armed robbery, kidnapping and sea piracy around the Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa waterways. The gang came on police spotlight three weeks ago after they killed three policemen attached to the Marine Police Unit of the Rivers State Police Command during gun battle along Onne Waterways.” 

IGP 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 further said: “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 magazine were recovered.”  

 

The Force Public Relation Officer, DCP Don Anuwah,  said: “ Acting on credible intelligence and public support, on November 29, 2016, the IRT intercepted a four-man gang of heavily armed kidnappers, notorious for terrorizing 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.”