The Rivers State Police Command has said that its personnel shot and killed two kidnappers who had been terrorising commuters at the Emohua area of the East-West Road.
Commissioner of Police in the state, Mustapha Dandaura, who disclosed this on Wednesday, also said that 15 other suspected kidnappers were arrested by operatives in different parts of the state.
According to Dandaura, the two kidnappers whose names he gave as Emmanuel Fyneface, aka Blade, and Chika Chukwu, aka Odogodo, were killed in Rumuodogo community, Emohua, during a fierce gun battle with police.
“Personnel of the IGP Monitoring Unit, in a sting operation led by the Commander, Alex Udeze, raided a black spot at Rumuodogo in the Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, where the hoodlums, on sighting the police, engaged them in a fierce gun battle.
“They were, however, overpowered and during the exchange of gunfire, two of them namely: Emmanuel Fyneface (aka Blade) and Chika Chukwu (aka Odogodo) were fatally wounded and others escaped with gunshot injuries.
“Two English pump action guns and charms were recovered from the criminals. Efforts are on to arrest other members of the gang. Recovered from them were 17 firearms, 10 stolen vehicles and 257 pieces of ammunition,” he said.
The Police Commissioner warned criminals in the state to repent or be hunted down by the police saying that those arrested would be prosecuted at the end of investigations.