Rivers police kill two kidnappers, recover AK-47, live ammunition

The Rivers State Police Command on Saturday said it killed two notorious kidnappers during a shootout in Oyigbo/Igbo-Etche Forest on the outskirts of Port Harcourt, the state capital.

The command, in a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, said its C4i intelligence officers raided the forest following a tip-off.

Iringe-Koko said the gang was linked to the kidnapping of a woman and her daughter on� March 18, 2023, along Garrison junction in Port Harcourt.

The statement read in part, �The operatives were acting on actionable intelligence gathered on the kidnapping gang. Upon sighting the police team, the hoodlums opened fire on them.

�During the gun duel that lasted for about an hour, the gang leader, who was later identified as Aka Blacky, was fatally wounded.

�Another suspect identified as Peter Nwafor �m� was shot while trying to escape. The two suspects were taken to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital where they were confirmed dead by a doctor on duty.

�The gang was linked to the kidnapping of a woman and her daughter on March 18, 2023, along Garrison, Port Harcourt. It would be recalled that two members of the gang had earlier been arrested.�

The police said one AK-47 rifle and 18 live ammunition were recovered from the scene.