Soldiers kill two suspected kidnappers in Delta

WARRI—SOLDIERS of the Nigerian Army, 3 Battalion, Effurun Barracks, near Warri, Delta State, have shot dead two suspected hired assassins and kidnappers in broad daylight at Ekpan, in Uvwie Local Government Area.

Commander, 3 Battalion, Lt. Col Ifeanyi Otu, who confirmed the killing, told Vanguard that soldiers gunned the suspects down while they were escaping with a bag stuffed with papers, which they thought was the N10 million ransom they had demanded from a victim, Chief Jonathan Governor.

But, apparently unfamiliar with the circumstances surrounding the death of the suspects, Niger Delta People Salvation Front/Niger Delta People Volunteer Force, NDPSF/NDPVF, led by activist, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, weekend, alleged that the Joint Task Force murdered a top member of the group and renowned musician, Mr. Tony Omoro.

Lt Col Otu, however, explained that the suspects, Fidelis Amani and Tony Omoro, called and sent threat messages with an Airtel number to Chief Governor, telling him that a woman paid them N1 million to kill him if he failed to pay a ransom of N10 million.

The victim was alarmed by the threat, and unknown to the criminals, he contacted senior officers of the battalion, who contrived a plan for him to play along with them.

He said: “On October 23, at about 0910hours, a report of the activities of hired assassins was lodged at our office by Chief Jonathan Governor of Ekpan.

“He said that two persons called him and sent threat messages with an Airtel number that a woman paid them N1 million to kill Governor if he did not pay a ransom of N10 million.”