A 16-year-old boy, FearGod Peter, has been arrested by operatives of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team in relation to the kidnapping of two officers attached to the Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department, simply identified as Inspector Francis and Sergeant Umar, and three others.
According to information available to The Eagle Online, the teenager is part of a criminal family group.
The other members of the gang are Peter’s older and younger brothers.
Francis and Umar, who were on their way to Rivers State from Abuja, were kidnapped as part of passengers in a public transport on May 2, 2018.
The IRT and operatives of the Rivers State Police Command Tactical Units launched an instant manhunt for the kidnappers, leading to the arrest of Peter on May 8, 2018.
Peter, upon his arrest, admitted to have actively taken part in kidnapping and numerous other criminal activities since he was 13 years old.
The modus operandi, according to report available to The Eagle Online, was to target clean commercial vehicles on the highway between Owerri in Imo State and Port Harcourt in Rivers State, block, rob and kidnap the passengers, sell off the vehicle to a receiver in Port Harcourt and take the passengers as hostages in order to extort ransom payments.
He further stated that his gang members, which included his elder and younger blood brothers, had been attacked by police on May 7, 2018, prompting them to relocate their position to another camp along with the five hostages to a location unknown to him.
The suspect made a revealing confession that led the police take an informed decision, The Eagle Online was told.
The suspect was later allowed to make calls to his brothers at about 8am on May 9, 2018 and put a lot of pressure on them to release the hostages.
The five hostages were eventually released that night at nearby church without any ransom paid.
The Eagle Online was told that efforts are ongoing to arrest all members of this criminal gang, recover stolen vehicles as well arms and ammunition with them.
Exhibits recovered from the suspect included the mobile phone of the kidnapped Inspector.