A suspected kidnapper, Mr Stanley Ekpelulor Ifeanyi, left journalists and policemen speechless after he revealed that during operations, his trust was usually not reposed in God, native doctors or charms, but in his gun.
He made this astonishing declaration while fielding questions from our correspondent.
Most people, who are into crimes, had often placed their trust in charms and powerful herbalist.
Ironically, some have been known to confess that they used to pray to Almighty God before embarking on any operation. Without these powers, beliefs and trusts, they believe the operations would end botched or unsuccessful.
But Ifeanyi, 36, from Osisioma Local Government Area, Abia State, who confessed to have taken part in three successful kidnap operations, appeared to have deviated from the norms of other suspected criminals. According to him, his trust and belief is solely in his gun.
Ifeanyi said: “I don’t have any native doctor anywhere, whom I can rely on. When it comes to our operations, I don’t even believe in God; I only believe in our guns, not in charms! I’m quite comfortable with guns during operations. When victims see the guns, they quickly cooperate and obey. It’s not that I want to kill anyone. But as it is now, I have fallen into police net. I regret all my criminal actions. It’s now my duty to tell people that there is no gain in crime.”
Ifeanyi was arrested by operatives attached to the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team (IRT), led by Assistant Commissioner of Commissioner, Mr Abba Kyari.
Ifeanyi, a dismissed policeman, was arrested along with John Alozie 26, aka Alagboso, also from Osisioma, Abia State. Others are Ogbonna Wesley 31, Eze Obinna 22, and Eze Orji 58, all from Isiala Ngwa, Abia State.
When one of the suspects, Alozie, was arrested, IRT detectives recovered a service Berretta Pistol belonging to an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mr Solomon Nyakno Aniefiok, a Unit Commander, Mobile Police Squadron 55, Abia State. Aniefiok was abducted on January 14, 2018 in the state.
A police source said: “The gang kidnapped a policeman on January 14, 2018 and collected his service pistol, which contained some ammunition. They took him and his wife away in his Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV). On getting to their camp, they used his Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) Card to clear all the money in his bank account and later collected ransom of N450,000. After payment of the ransom, they released him, but refused to return his pistol.”
According to the police source, the abduction of Aniefiok occurred along Azuzu road Aba Abia State. The smashing of the gang started after IRT men arrested Alozie and found Aniefiok service pistol in his possession. He was used as bait to catch other members of the gang.
Alozie confessed that the abduction of the mopol unit commander was his first operation. He claimed to have been introduced into the business by Ifeanyi, whom he described as the gang leader.
“When Ifeanyi was arrested, he confessed to have participated in three different kidnap operations,” said the source.
Ifeanyi’s first operation was allegedly on September 7, 2017, where he abducted a man in a Camry car at Ogbor Hill, Aba, Abia State. The victim paid N400,000 as ransom before he was released. His car was also later found, abandoned along the road.
He further confessed that his second operation was carried out on December 17, where he and his gang members abducted a man in a Lexus Jeep. The victim was on his way to church; he was abducted along World Bank axis, by Umuochamu road, Aba, Abia State.
They took the victim to their camp, and later collected N1million as ransom. They held on to the Lexus Jeep and would later sell it at the rate of N 300,000 to someone residing in Owerri, Imo State.
The abduction of the mopol unit commander was the undoing of the gang. It was the final abduction, which would later break the camel’s back.
The police said: “When Ifeanyi was arrested, he led the detectives to where they could find another member of the gang named Valentine Nwachukwu Eze. When Valentine sighted the IRT operatives, he took to his heels. He was holding a leather bag. He was instructed several times to halt, but refused to heed. He kept running. He was subsequently shot. He is presently in a hospital, receiving treatment. The brother of Valentine, Obinna Eze, happened to be the person that made the last withdrawal from the bank account of the mopol unit commander. Ifeanyi confessed that the father of Valentine, who happened to be his gang member, used to have cartridges in his house, which Valentine used to bring for operations. He had also been arrested.”
Police explained that Ifeanyi was dismissed from Police College while in training. After his dismissal, he returned to Abia State, where he met with some gang members. He got involved in kidnapping and was later arrested charged to court, along with the gang members.
They were remanded in prison, where he spent one year. In prison, he met Alozie and they became chummy. They would later exchange addresses. After they were released from prison, they met and teamed up to go full time into kidnapping.
Along the line, Ifeanyi and Alozie met with Valentine. Valentine told them that he could get rifles. Valentine was able to get an AK47 and a locally made pistol for N450,000.
Another gang member, Ogbonna, who participated in the operation, where a victim, in a Camry car was abducted, has also been arrested. There are five suspects presently in police custody.
According to detectives, investigations have revealed that the victims were randomly targeted.
“What the gang does is to roam about, fishing for preys. Their guns would be in a bag. They move around the streets, looking for flashy cars. Once they sighted a flashy car, they would move closer to the driver and would whip out their guns. The person would naturally surrender,” disclosed the police.
On January 14, the gang bit more than it could chew when the members swooped on Aniefiok, unaware he was a policeman.
The abduction of Aniefiok and the collection of ransom was a slap on the faces of all policemen in the state. It was gathered that policemen vowed to leave no stone unturned in finding the kidnappers, and at least recover the service pistol of Aniefiok. Even after the release of Aniefiok, policemen in the state, especially detectives of IRT, refused to stop their investigations. Just when the trail was beginning to get cold, they stumbled on the first clue, leading to the smashing of the gang.
On that fateful day of January 14, Aniefiok parked his car along the road and was discussing with the lady when the gang members walked closer to the car and pointed a rifle at him.
They threatened to riddle his stomach with bullets if he makes any heroic move. Aniefiok, who knew he was outnumbered, had to think and act smart.
He also didn’t want to endanger the life of the woman in his care. He decided to obey and cooperate.
But before then, he had earlier attempted to whip out his service pistol, which they collected. When the lady noticed the gang members were not paying attention to her, probably thinking she was harmless, she seized a slight opportunity and bolted.
Aniefiok was bundled to the kidnappers’ camp. He begged them not to kill him. He claimed to be a dismissed policeman. He further begged them to return the pistol, insisting that he wanted to return it to the police authority. He talked and pleaded till he was blue in the face, but they didn’t hearken to him.
Recollecting how Aniefiok was abducted, Ifeanyi said: “We were able to abduct the Mobile Police Officer because we had guns. Of course, we didn’t know that he was a policeman. I had never met him until the day we abducted him. He was just like any other guy in the street. It was in the night we kidnapped him. Nobody gave us information about him. It just happened. Sometimes, we used to be four or five in the gang that goes for operation. We normally used one AK47 and a locally made pistol for operation. The guns were bought for 450,000. Yes, I’m a dismissed policeman. I was dismissed at Police College, just five months into training. What led to my dismissal was that during training, my friend said we should go and smoke, and later sneaked back to join the training. That was how we were found out and kicked out.”
Ifeanyi said that he and the gang started active kidnapping just last year.
His words: “I met with Valentine and he promised to provide guns for the business. Nobody introduced us into kidnapping. We knew what we were getting into; but the truth is that we needed money. I took the decision to go into kidnapping because I was jobless and needed money. I used to be a commercial bus driver, but the bus became faulty and soon parked up. I thought of raising money from any means to buy my own personal bus. I also needed to sustain myself pending when God would bless me. I had not even saved much before I was arrested. I cannot really say this is what I had realized since I started kidnapping. The reason is just that I used to spend my money immediately we shared our loots. I’m yet to even start saving to buy the bus which made me to go into the business in the first place. For now, what I did with my share of the money was to buy wears, get apartment, furnish it and naturally, because I’m a guy, play with ladies.”
Ifeanyi, who revealed that no member had ever killed anyone during operation, added: “My orientation has changed since I was arrested. I want to advise youth out there to keep away from crime. Nothing good ever comes from crime; there’s just arrest and possible death. I have learnt the hard way.”
Narrating his own story, Alozie said: “I met Ifeanyi in prison and we became friends. It was Ifeanyi that introduced me to kidnapping. Although this is my first operation; I joined kidnapping because I needed money to buy a motorbike, which I wanted to use to work in order to make ends meet. In the last operation, which was the abduction of the mopol unit commander, I was given N50,000 as my share.
“The first case that took me to prison, where I met Ifeanyi was a murder case. The murder took place along Umuahia road. Policemen went on raids and arrest. I was among those arrested. We were 10 persons that were arrested. Since we left prison, I have not set my eyes on Ifeanyi until recently. I needed money, so I had to join the gang. I was at home when policemen came to my house to arrest me. I was shocked. How they found us is still a mystery to me.”
Recounting how the mopol unit commander was arrested, Alozie said: “We were on the road when we saw the SUV. The man had a lady in the car. We walked up to him and brought out our gun. His car was on reverse. He wanted to bring out his gun, but I quickly collected it from him. The lady that was with him ran away. We bundled him into his car and drove off. Ifeanyi and others asked me to alight along the road. I did. The next day, which was Monday, Ifeanyi called me. He said that I should come, so that we could go to where the man was held captive.
“When we got there, I asked him some questions. It was then he told me that money was withdrawn from his bank account, which the gang members never told me about. I don’t know the total sum taken from his account. But I was given just N50,000 as my share. I later discovered that they collected more than they told me. They cheated me and I felt betrayed. We were five gang members that carried out the abduction of the unit commander. Ifeanyi is our gang leader. He used to arrange everything. Valentine is the owner of the guns. He is the armourer. I regret ever going into such a crime. I have prayed for mercy.”
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