A self-acclaimed member of Icelander cult group, Onyekachi Amadi, has revealed why members of his gang killed seven OSPAC vigilante men in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The suspect made this startling revelation after he, Uzoma Amadi and Uburize Omesi were arrested by operatives of the Force Intelligence Response Team.
Police said the suspects were members of the notorious Icelander cult group and had been terrorising residents of Rivers State and its environ.
Onyekachi, 21, one of the alleged leaders of the gang, explained that the OSPAC vigilante men were killed in retaliation for the killings of some residents of their community.
Onyekachi, a tricycle rider, married with a child, told police that he was a member of Icelander confraternity.
He added: “It was one of my friends, Biggie, that made me to join the cult group.
“We killed the OSPAC Vigilante men because they killed some people in our community.
“We beheaded and took their heads round our community because we wanted our action to serve as deterrents to others.
“We threatened to kill more vigilante men if they didn’t leave our community.”
The gang was smashed after some of their members beheaded the five security guards and displayed their corpses on the social media.
According to the police, the gang operated with two Pump Action Rifles, an Ak-47 Rifle, loaded with four magazines and 120 rounds of live ammunition.
The police further said the gang usually kidnapped victims from Port Harcourt and later move them to their camps located at the Chuba area of Rivers State.
The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, was alerted in October 2020 about the gang’s criminal activities following the gruesome murder of the five vigilante men.
The men were killed when they confronted members of the gang at Rumuodogbo community.
The IGP, vexed at the murders, deployed IRT Operatives to Port Harcourt to fish out the killers.
The operatives’ preliminary investigation revealed that members of the gang were actually natives of the community, but had their base in Aba, Abia State.
The police explained: “The gang members regularly used to visit Rumuodgbo community in Port Harcourt, where they carry out their crimes.
“When we commenced investigations, we discovered that these kidnappers have a camp at Chuba area and used to drive into Port Harcourt to abduct victims.
“They target victims, who drive exotic cars and live at highbrow neighbourhoods.
“According to some of their victims, the gang members do not like wasting time on victims.
“Immediately they kidnap a victim, they make huge ransom demands, but accept whatever is paid to them.
“This is because they want to quickly return to their families in Abia State.”
Onyekachi, who said he had some clarifications to make concerning allegation levelled on him and his gang, stated: “After I joined the cult group, we ventured into kidnapping.
“I have taken part in seven operations.
“Biggie is our gang leader.
“He was the person that led the kidnap operation where we kidnapped a woman from Port Harcourt in July 2020.
“We kept her at Chuba for three days and never raped her.”
Onyekachi noted that Biggie was the person in charge of negotiating for ransom.
He added that he didn’t know how much money was usually paid by victims’ families.
Recollecting different operations he had participated, the suspect said: “On that first operation, Biggie gave me N90,000 as my share.
“In the second operation, we kidnapped a man from Port Harcourt and kept him at Chuba.
“But his family didn’t waste time in payment of the ransom and we quickly released him.
“I got N150,000 as my share of the operation.
“On the third and fourth operations, we kidnapped two men separately from Port Harcourt.
“We took them to our camp and their families paid their ransom without wasting time.
“I got N90,000 and N110,000 as my share respectively.
“On the fifth operation, we kidnapped a man around Chuba area and took him to our camp.
“We were four persons that went on that operation.
“One of our gang members, Augustine, was the person that negotiated for the ransom.
“We got N300,000 from the victim and I got N80,000 as my share.
“We then went to Rumumaci, where we kidnapped another man.
“I can’t remember his name, but we kept him at Chuba until ransom was paid.
“I got N50,000 as my share.
“We also kidnapped a man at Iliozo area.
“I got N80,000.
“My last operation was the abduction of an Indian national.
“It was Augustine that brought the job.
“We kidnapped the victim at Rumuola and kept him captive at Chuba.
“The man spent four days with us before his family paid a ransom of N2 million.
“I got N200,000 as my share.
“I relocated to Aba because I didn’t want the police to arrest me in Rivers State over my atrocities.
“I was however shocked when the police tracked me down to Aba and arrested me.”
Onyekachi’s colleague, Omesi, 28, stated that he joined the gang due to hardship, which was a fallout of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Omesi, who is married with two children, said he had no formal education and just like Onyekachi, he is also a tricycle rider.
He recounted: “I was arrested because I took part in kidnapping.
“It was Onyekachi that invited me to join the kidnapping gang and I joined because things were very difficult for me.
“I could no longer fend for my family.
“I wasn’t part of the team that went out to kidnap the victim, but I was part of those deployed to the camp to watch over the victim.
“I spent a week with the victim in the camp.
“I guarded him with an AK-47 rifle and three magazines loaded with 90 rounds of live ammunition.
“I left the camp after a week because Onyekachi, who is our boss, refused to supply food to us.
“I don’t know how the victim was released, but Onyekachi later gave me N30,000.
“The police later came to my house in Aba to arrest me.”
