2 killed as Police engage in gun duel with suspected kidnappers in Rivers

Two suspected kidnappers terrorising the Oyigbo-Igbo-Etche areas of Rivers State have been shot dead by operatives of the Rivers State Police Command.

This was disclosed in a statement by the command’s public relations officer, Grace Iringe-Koko.

According to her, detectives attached to the intelligence unit of the command raided a suspected kidnappers’ hideout in Oyigbo-Igbo-Etche Forest and engaged the hoodlums in a gun duel that lasted for an hour.

The statement revealed that the gang leader, simply identified as Blacky, was fatally wounded while another suspect, Peter Nwafor, was shot while trying to escape. The two suspects were taken to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, where they were confirmed dead and their corpses deposited in the UPTH mortuary.

The police PRO noted that the gang was linked to the abduction of a woman and her daughter on March 18, 2023, along Garrison, Port Harcourt, a fact confirmed by the testimonies of two members of the gang earlier arrested by the police.

Exhibits recovered at the scene of the incident include one AK-47 rifle and 18 rounds of live ammunition.