A self-confessed Niger Delta Avenger member, Anthony Pepple, has revealed how he killed the dreaded militant, Soboma George.
George was murdered in August 2010.
He was a militant in both the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta and The Outlaws.
In August 2009, George accepted an amnesty offer made by the Nigerian government, under President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
Until his death, he led The Outlaws, a cult gang, and was a notorious commander of MEND.
In September 2010, two men, who were arrested in Ondo State for killing him, claimed they killed George because he hired them to assassinate then Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and the impeached Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Peremobowei Ebebi.
The suspects were Emmanuel Gladstone, aka Tommy Pere Fiofiri, and Doubra Ogbe.
Nobody knew they were acting out a script.
The well-orchestrated script was written by Pepple, 42, aka Urban Gorrilla.
Nobody would have known the truth if not that operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team, led by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, smashed Pepple’s gang.
Singing like birds back then, the two suspects claimed: “Soboma gave us three AK-47 rifles to kill Ebebi, former deputy governor of Bayelsa State, and the Rivers State governor, but we refused. The first job he gave us was to kill the governor of Rivers State at Liquid Night Club and the second one was to kill Ebebi. We did not kill him (Soboma) because of money, but because we didn’t know what to do. We are tired of running and hiding. We refused to kill Ebebi because we have accepted the amnesty programme and peace has come and Ebebi is an Ijaw man. Should we kill our brother? We were tired of hiding from him. Soboma had been looking for us with rifles to kill us with police officers working with him. He had killed many people. He had all the connections and since we don’t have money and connections, we used the rifles he gave to us to kill Ebebi to kill him.”
Today, Pepple, speaking in IRT’s custody, gave a graphic detailed account of how he planned the murder of George and inserted the name of Amaechi.
His words: “Blackee and others were arrested and brought to Port Harcourt. Before their arrest, I had told them that whenever they were arrested over the death of Soboma, they should tell the police that Soboma paid them N60million to kill Governor Rotimi Amaechi. When they said that, the governor became interested. He told the police not to touch them.”
Speaking on how they killed George, Pepple said two of his friends, Ayi and Blackee, got a job with the former Bayelsa State Governor.
The Governor was to pay them N60 million for the job, but the two men didn’t have any bank account.
They approached George, who was also their friend.
They told Pepple that George has promised to help them with his bank account.
Pepple told them that he didn’t trust George because he was the person that killed his uncle.
Pepple said: “They didn’t heed my advice. They forwarded Soboma’s account to the Governor. The money was paid. When it was time for them to collect it, Soboma refused to release the money. He ordered them to leave his barracks. They came crying to me; they asked me what they could do. I told them I had a score to settle with Soboma because he killed my uncle. I suggested we should kill him.”
The men quickly embraced the idea. They went to see a spiritualist, who told them how they could trap Soboma and make him weak and easy to be killed. The plans failed.
Pepple said: “Soboma was very powerful. He had some forces guarding him. I asked the spiritualist to use my uncle’s name because Soboma killed my uncle. The spiritualist tried it and it worked. He told us that we could attack Soboma whenever we were ready.
“At that point, I volunteered to do the technical part of the job, which was to study Soboma’s movements. On Saturday, while he was playing football, we were at the field and monitored him. I had an ear piece with me, which was connected to my phone. It made it easier for me to communicate with Ayi and Blackee. Luckily, Soboma picked up an injury and was carried out of the pitch. His girlfriend, younger brother and four of his boys were with him. They came to where I was standing; I called Ayi and told him that Soboma was out of the pitch. I told them to strike. His girlfriend said she wanted to eat banana with groundnut. They stopped in front of a woman selling it. The groundnut seller sighted the car trailing Soboma and told him, but he said his boys were inside the car. I pretended as if I was urinating; I called Ayi and told him that the woman selling banana was about spoiling the show. I told them to act fast.
“They drove to where Soboma was; the first person to come out with a gun was Ayi. When Soboma saw him, he tried to run, but the men opened fire on him and his girlfriend. The groundnut seller sustained bullet wounds. The girlfriend’s brother jumped into the gutter, while four of his boys, who were his guards, fled. I took a motorcycle and left the scene.
“Ayi and Blackee didn’t wear face masks, so everyone saw their faces. After the operation, they called and told me they were leaving Rivers State for Lagos. I started working on how to get my papers to travel overseas. While in Lagos, they called me again. They said Lagos wasn’t safe for them. They left for Ondo State, where they were eventually arrested. I met Ayi when he came to Port Harcourt. I was also processing my papers to travel overseas to work. After a short while, my uncle’s wife fell ill and died. When her people investigated, they said my uncle’s spirit came after his wife and took her away.”
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