*We killed him, his girlfriend over N600m deal,
murder of my uncle –Member of Niger Delta Avengers
* Coronated chief part of gang
*How killers used former governor Rotimi Amaechi’s
name to lie
*The true kidnap story of Prof. Rosemund Dienye Green
Osahogulu
The name, Soboma George wouldn’t be forgotten in a
hurry by many Nigerians, especially citizens of Rivers State.
He was murdered in August 2010. He was a militant in
both the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta and The Outlaws.
In August 2009, Soboma accepted an amnesty offer
made by the Nigerian government, under President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.
Until his death, he led The Outlaws, a cult gang,
and was a notorious commander of MEND.
In September 2010, two men, who were arrested in
Ondo State for killing him, claimed they killed Soboma because he hired them to
assassinate Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and the impeached deputy
governor of Bayelsa State, Peremobowei Ebebi.
The suspects were Emmanuel Gladstone aka Tommy, Pere
Fiofiri and Doubra Ogbe. Nobody knew they were acting out a script.
The well-orchestrated script was written by a
notorious Niger Delta Avenger Militant and kidnapper, Anthony Pepple 42, aka Urban
Gorrilla.
Nobody would have known the truth, if not that
Operatives of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Ibrahim Idris’s,
Special Intelligence Response Team (IRT), led by an Assistant Commissioner of
Police (ACP), Mr. Abba Kyari, smashed Pepple’s gang.
Singing like birds back then, the two suspects
claimed: “Soboma gave us three AK-47 rifles to kill Ebebi, former deputy
governor of Bayelsa State, and the Rivers State governor, but we refused. The first
job he gave us was to kill the governor of Rivers State at Liquid Night Club
and the second one was to kill Ebebi. We did not kill him (Soboma) because of
money, but because we didn’t know what to do. We are tired of running and
hiding. We refused to kill Ebebi because we have accepted the amnesty programme
and peace has come and Ebebi is an Ijaw man. Should we kill our brother? We
were tired of hiding from him. Soboma had been looking for us with rifles to
kill us with police officers working with him. He had killed many people. He
had all the connections and since we don’t have money and connections, we used
the rifles he gave to us to kill Ebebi to kill him.”
Today,
Pepple, speaking in IRT’s custody, gave a graphic detailed account of how he
planned the murder of Soboma and inserted the name of Amaechi.
His words: “Blackee and others were arrested and
brought to Port Harcourt. Before their arrest, I had told them that whenever
they were arrested over the death of Soboma, they should tell the police that
Soboma paid them N60million to kill Governor Rotimi Amaechi. When they said that, the governor became
interested. He told the police not to touch them.”
Pepple was arrested along with other members of his
kidnap gang. Some of the suspects are
Hillary Wogu 41, Ogbungbada Chima 36, Chief Aghara Emmanuel Lobito 31, Lucky
Gospel Marako 36, Igbiki Sokari, 38, Dokubo Victor Ipalibo 28, Okwudili Pascal
41 and Candy Ndubisi Nwankwo 30.
Exhibits recovered from the syndicate are an AK47
rifle with bridge No. 4398, three vehicles; two SUV's and Volkswagen golf, used
for kidnapping operations.
The police said the gang specialized in targeting
medical doctors and pharmacists working in Port Harcourt.
After several reported cases of kidnapping by the
gang, Idris instructed the IRT operatives, to go after the gang.
A police source said: “On April 1, around 3pm, after
diligence painstaking Intelligence gathering and analysis, IRT operatives, who
were deployed to Port-Harcourt, arrested Saheed Adekunle 27, aka 'Black Devil.'
Adekunle, who resides in Port-Harcourt confessed to have been introduced into kidnapping
by Pepple in 2016. Swiftly acting on Adekunle’s confession, operatives arrested
Pepple. Pepple, clearly well educated, is a former staff of a Multinational Oil
Servicing Company in Nigeria and Abudabi, UAE (SAIPEM).”
After his arrest, Pepple confessed to be a key member
of the Niger Delta Avengers. He said that his gang masterminded the cold blooded
murder of Soboma. He also confessed to being the kingpin of a kidnap syndicate
that was known for targeting medical doctors and pharmacists, amongst others. The gang has been kidnapping and collecting
ransom since 2015.
After Pepple’s confession, the operatives embarked
on a mop up operation, which lasted for about 72 hours.
During the raid, seven other members of the gang
were arrested. They all confessed to be part of the gang. They also revealed
various roles they played.
A police source said: “Wogu confessed to have taken
part in some operations with the gang. Chima has maintained a steady communication
with a member of the syndicate in Port-Harcourt maximum prison, organising
operation. Chief Aghara Emmanuel Lobito was Coronated in December 2014 by His
Royal Highness Chukwuemeka Nwafor of Awka Anambra State, but resides in Woji
Town Port-Harcourt as Chief Eze Lobito Emmanuel Aghara Alusi of Nwanne Di-Namba
Port-Harcourt branch. The chief provided the Nissan Pathfinder and Nissan
Xterra cars that were used by the gang for some of its operations. Marako confessed to have taken part in some of
the gang’s operations. Sokari also confessed to have taken part in four kidnap
operations.
“Ipalibo said that he and Anthony started the kidnapping
business. Ipalibi introduced other four members of the gang into the crime, but
later backed out. Pascal, a plumber with a shop along East-West road by Akpajo
Port-Harcourt said that his role in the gang is to bring information to the kidnappers
on any of his client. His opportunity of entering homes to carry out plumbing
works, gave opportunity to check out if the person is rich or not. If he feels
the person is rich, he passes the information to the gang. Nwankwo is the
syndicate's amourer. When he sensed that his gang members were being picked by
the police, he ran to Imo State, where he was traced. When he sighted the IRT
operatives, he opened fire. He was, however, fatally wounded in the gun duel
that ensued.”
Pepple, a trained safety officer in Agip, joined
Saipem Nigeria, an oil serving company in 1997. He would later be promoted to
the position of a Health Safety and Environment Supervisor in 1999.
He held the position until he had opportunity to
travel overseas to attend courses. He travelled to Italy, Romania, France and
Abu-Dhabi, which eventually made him a qualified HSE manager.
He said: “I left the company and decided to work
with my uncle, who was, Wilson Alison, treasurer of the Ijaw National Congress,
INC. That was at the thick of the Niger Delta crisis. My uncle needed someone
he could trust to always move with him and go on errands.
“In 2010, my uncle wanted to divorce his wife
because he discovered that she was too fetish. He alleged that when he went to
USA, she slept with his friend. He found out. He asked his lawyer to file a
divorce because he married her in court.
When his lawyer called her attention to the development, they started
having problems. I was informed that she
paid N10million to late Soboma George, to eliminate my uncle.
“My uncle was killed at Orazi road, linking to GRA
Port Harcourt. Four guys on two
motorcycles, armed with Ak47 rifles attacked and killed him. The first person at the murder scene was his
wife, who had not been living with him for over three years. I wasn’t in town
when this happened. I was in Delta State, on errand for him. When I came back,
I went to the police station. We took his corpse to the mortuary. I carried out
investigation to know the person behind his death. I learned that the boys that
killed him were Soboma’s boys. I heard they were paid N10million. I confronted my
uncle’s wife and she got angry. She called me a cultist, militant and reported
me to the police. The military Joint Task Force and Soboma’s boys started
hunting me. I went into hiding; luckily,
the then Rivers State Commissioner of Police, learnt about everything and
invited me. I told him all that happened. He assured me that nothing would
happen to me. He said I should allow my uncle’s wife to bury him.”
Speaking on how they killed, Soboma, Pepple said
that two of his friends, Ayi and Blackee, got a job with the former Bayelsa
State Governor.
The Governor was to pay them N60 million for the
job, but the two men didn’t have any bank account. They approached Soboma, who
was also their friend.
They told Pepple that Soboma has promised to help
them with his bank account. Pepple told them that he didn’t trust Soboma
because he was the person that killed his uncle.
Pepple said: “They didn’t heed my advice. They
forwarded Soboma’s account to the Governor. The money was paid. When it was time for them to collect it, Soboma
refused to release the money. He ordered
them to leave his barracks. They came crying
to me; they asked me what they could do.
I told them I had a score to settle with Soboma because he killed my
uncle. I suggested we should kill him.”
The men quickly embraced the idea. They went to see
a spiritualist, who told them how they could trap Soboma and make him weak and
easy to be killed. The plans failed.
Pepple said: “Soboma was very powerful. He had some
forces guarding him. I asked the spiritualist to use my uncle’s name because
Soboma killed my uncle. The spiritualist
tried it and it worked. He told us that we could attack Soboma whenever we were
ready.
“At that point, I volunteered to do the technical
part of the job, which was to study Soboma’s movements. On Saturday, while he was playing football, we
were at the field and monitored him. I had an ear piece with me, which was
connected to my phone. It made it easier for me to communicate with Ayi and
Blackee. Luckily, Soboma picked up an
injury and was carried out of the pitch.
His girlfriend, younger brother and four of his boys were with him. They came to where I was standing; I called
Ayi and told him that Soboma was out of the pitch. I told them to strike. His girlfriend said she wanted to eat banana with
groundnut. They stopped in front of a woman selling it. The groundnut seller
sighted the car trailing Soboma and told him, but he said his boys were inside
the car. I pretended as if I was urinating; I called Ayi and told him that the woman
selling banana was about spoiling the show. I told them to act fast.
“They drove to where Soboma was; the first person to
come out with a gun was Ayi. When Soboma saw him, he tried to run, but the men
opened fire on him and his girlfriend. The groundnut seller sustained bullet
wounds. The girlfriend’s brother jumped into the gutter, while four of his
boys, who were his guards, fled. I took a motorcycle and left the scene.
“Ayi and Blackee didn’t wear face masks, so everyone
saw their faces. After the operation,
they called and told me they were leaving Rivers State for Lagos. I started
working on how to get my papers to travel overseas. While in Lagos, they called me again. They
said Lagos wasn’t safe for them. They left for Ondo State, where they were
eventually arrested. I met Ayi when he
came to Port Harcourt. I was also processing my papers to travel overseas to
work. After a short while, my uncle’s
wife fell ill and died. When her people
investigated, they said my uncle’s spirit came after his wife and took her
away.
“This was in 2010. I got a job offer from Saipen in
Abu-Dhabi and we built the world biggest gas plant. I was earning between N800,
000 to N1million monthly. I spent five
years in Abu-Dhabi and by December 2014, I came back to Nigeria with the money.
I have saved and I intended to go into oil bunkering.
“I started running around, looking for how to start
the business. It was in that process I met
a boy called Full-Payment. I met him through Ayi. He asked me to help him keep
some arms, which were four AK47rifles and ammunition. Then I was living alone.
I kept the arms in my house. I also met
a boy called Dokubo and I told him about the arms. Dokubo suggested that we should go for
fishing, which means; we should go after people driving flashy cars around town
and kidnapped them for ransom. He also
called two other people, which included a driver. In our first operation, we
kidnapped a man. We didn’t know his
identity; he was just driving a very flashy car. We picked him up at Ada George
junction; we kept him at an uncompleted building in a swampy area of Iwofe, Port
Harcourt. Before we started, I told
them that gun was the last resort and that the success of our operations depended
on time and speed.
“After kidnapping the man, I made the call. I drove from Ajip into town because I knew
police would want to track and know my location. So, I usually drive from one place to the
other. Sometimes, relatives of the
victims would tell me that they wanted to speak with the victims. Then I would use my own phone, call one of
boys at our den and put my phone and the victim’s phone, which I used in
calling his family on speaker. They would hear the person’s voice. I don’t go to the river or any other place to
collect ransom. I collected ransom in
Port Harcourt. What I do is this; if I
ask you to go to a place to drop ransom, I get to that place 30 minutes before
the time.”
One of Pepple kidnapped victim is Professor Rosemund
Dienye, Green Osahogulu, bonny Island, Rivers State, and Vice Chancellor of Ignatius
Ajuru University of Education.
When she was kidnapped and eventually released, her
estranged husband, Prof. Joshua Dele Osahogulu had insinuated that the kidnap
was faked by her and the Bursar of the institution, alleging that a huge sum of
money was withdrawn from the university coffers for her release from abductors.
Today, Dienye, weeping, said she was glad that her
kidnappers had been arrested. She recounted how it all started.
She said: “I was kidnapped on June 18, 2015. On the
fateful day of the kidnap, we had a management meeting, which ended around 6pm.
I was on my way home, around Okocha Street, off Aka Road Rumuolumeni area of Port
Harcourt, when a black jeep appeared from nowhere and overtook my car. Four
hefty men, armed with AK47 rifles jumped out of the jeep.
“One of them went to my driver’s side and shattered
the windscreen. He opened the central locks and I tried to lock it back. I
heard sporadic shootings from the back. I thought I was going to die. They dragged me out and took my bag. They
bundled me into their jeep and placed me in their middle. I asked them why
young men like them were treating me that way. I told them I had trained youths
and that it was my job to do so. The one sitting at the front told me to shut
up. He asked me if I thought they were my students.
“He ordered that I should be blindfolded. We drove through
a bumpy road and suddenly stopped. I told them that I had N500, 000 in my bag,
which I wanted to give to widows. I begged them to take it and allow me to go.
They said they were not interested in that amount of money. They told me they
were contracted to kill me. The contractor promised them N300million and had
already paid N150million. They promised to release me if I could pay
N200million.
“They said the contractor was from my university. I
told them that nobody in my university had such an amount of money. We were all
salary earners. I attempted to pry open the blindfold; one of them said he
would kill me if I did.
“I was led into a house with a narrow staircase. I
was kept in a room with just a bed and blindfolded. I asked what my offence was. The one who
claimed to be the leader, ordered me to shut up. He asked for my cheque book and ATM cards.
They asked how many phones I had; I said two; a blackberry and an Iphone.”
She was left
for a moment and later, the supposed leader came back into the room, demanding
for the cheque books of the university.
“I tried to educate them; I told them that even as
the VC, I didn’t keep cheques. The bursary department does. I couldn’t even
sign alone. They asked me where the bursar lived; I told them I didn’t know. After
two days, which was on a Friday, the boy who was looking after me asked if I
was the Vice president, I said no.
“He said my disappearance had been announced
everywhere. He said police were looking for me. One of them told me that there was
jubilation in the university over my kidnap. I gave them my husband’s number,
which was the only number I could remember. By the fifth day, which was on a Monday,
the leader came in and started flogging me. He said I should tell him how to access
the university money. I didn’t have the cheque books and couldn’t access any
account alone. They told me how much the university had in some of its account.
“The leader told me that we the university had
N600millon in one account and N200million in another. I told him it was
government money. The leader asked me to give them the password to open my
phone and numbers to call. I told them
to call the bursar of the university, Mr. Davis Ojima.
“I told them that he would be able to reach my
people. They called Ojima and gave me the phone. They said they would kill me by
Wednesday. Ojima told them that he had spoken with my family and that my family
promised to raise N3million out of the N200million they demanded. They refused,
demanding for N100million. Dienye’s
family eventually paid N10million for her released.
“I became scared. They went through my phone,
looking for the contact of one SA Hanny, who is a contractor of the school. He
was very close to the Governor. They
called Hanny. I spoke with him and begged him that my health was failing. I
didn’t take any food from them. I ate banana with water. The next day Thursday, they woke me up around
1: am. They said I should leave. I was still blindfolded. I was taken to a spot
at Ada George by Agip. Alphonsus Peters
saw and took me home. He told me that he
dropped the money since morning. He was asked to wait for me there.
“The next day after my release, I was taken to the DSS,
where I was told the kidnapper, Anthony Pepple, is from my place. The DSS agent
told me that he would be arrested in three weeks. I had a surgery that had to
do with the intestine. I was very sick,
and my sister, who is married to a medical doctor, asked me to come over for
treatment. I wrote to the governor and he granted me permission. I had that press briefing and told people how
I was kidnapped.”
According to Dienye, she learnt about the arrest of her
kidnappers last Monday. She said that police called and said that they got her
number from the Chief Security Officer of university.
She said: “I cried, but they were tears of joy.”
Some
victims kidnapped by the gang
Some
of the victims kidnapped include Dr. Silas Nwachukwu, a surgeon and a Director
of Capino Pharmacy at Rumuomasi, kidnap on August 2015.
Another
victim, also a pharmacist, Mrs. Joy Enuvie Akpokobje 63, Director Tejod
Pharmacy was kidnapped on November 8, along NTA Uniport road. Pharmacist Onomake Monday 52, Director of
Larmack Pharmacy was kidnapped on February 23, 2015 at his Pharmacy also along
NTA Uniport road. Dr. Patience Iduh 48, a lab scientist with N.N.P.C Port-Harcourt
was kidnapped on January 13, 2017 at Elelewon, Professor Rosemund Dienye Green
Osahogulu; the Vice Chancellor of Ignatuis Ajuru University of Education
Port-Harcourt Iwofe was kidnapped while driving along Iwofe road on June 6,
2015, amongst others.
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