Police Kill Popular Wanted Port Harcourt Kidnapper

A Port Harcourt kidnap specialist who has been on the wanted list of security operatives in the country, has been shot dead on Thursday by men of the Nigeria Police.

The kidnapper, identified as Prosper David, was killed during a shoot-out between the police and his gang according to a statement issued by spokesperson of the police force, Jimoh Moshood.

The statement however, was silent on where the shoot-out took place.

He revealed that the kidnap kingpin was killed by a police joint strike force set up by the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to trace those responsible for the abduction of one Tina Bob-Manuel, a Port Harcourt-based businesswoman.

Mrs. Bob-Manuel, 58, was abducted November last year at her shop at Nvuigwe, Woji in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of the state, Premium Times reports.

The kidnappers, who disguised themselves with police uniforms and were armed with AK-47 rifles, later demanded N100 million ransom from the victim’s family.

Mr. David and his gang were said to have also been involved in armed robberies, cult-related killings, sea piracy and other violent crimes.

“The deceased gang leader has been identified after his death by some of his victims,” said Mr. Moshood.

The police recovered one AK-47 rifle from the gang as three other suspected members of the gang – Benjamin Johnson, Anthony Joshua, and Johnson Dennis who confessed to been part of the gang’s criminal activities, have also been arrested.

The killed kidnap kingpin was responsible for several kidnap operations in Rivers state, as well as other states in the South-east and South-south, police revealed.