Our deadly exploits, by suspected kidnappers who terrorised Imo, Abia

THE five armed and dangerous kidnappers that ran riot in Imo State have been tracked down and arrested by operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team.
The arrest, according to a police source, came after a follow-up on reliable information that the notorious kidnappers had been traced to where they planned to carry out another operation with two AK-47 rifles and other dangerous weapons. The Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, deployed his special intelligence response team, led by CSP Abba Kyari, to the scene in Imo State.

The move led to the arrest of the following: Ugochukwu Gabriel Mbah, 33, Kenneth Levi, 32, OnyemaUzodinma, 31, Udochukwu Nwanguma, 37, and Nduka Nwankwo, 25.
The source added that the suspects were picked up from different areas in Imo, Anambra and Abia States and that two AK-47rifles, two magazines with 52 rounds of live ammunition, one Beretta pistol and one pump action gun were recovered from their hideout in Umuakpala village in Abia State and they all confessed to several kidnappings within Imo and Abia State, while the Inspector-General of Police assured that efforts have been intensified to get others who are still on the run.
God called me to be a pastor — First suspect Ugochukwu Mba
 

 “I am a native of Ezinihitte, Mbaise, Imo state and aged 33. I am happily married with a son and they are in the village. My father married three wives and 15 children. I am the only son of my father, so there was a lot of problems in the house between the wives and their children. My uncles were against me and they wanted to take away my lands. It got to a point that I was poisoned and it took me months to recover.
“In 2012, I travelled to Angola in search of greener pastures but was deported. They said that I did not have up to N1m in my account. In fact, it was the Igbo community that conspired against me. They said that if I didn’t  have enough money, I was likely going to commit crime.
“I genuinely wanted to do business there but they refused. Back in Nigeria, I was dead broke since all my effort to live a good life was frustrated. I decided to survive by any possible means. The only one who gave me accommodation was Richard, and he was the one who brought me to Owerri. He was bold enough to tell me what he was doing for a living and the need to return to Owerri for full-time kidnapping. He was the one who introduced me to Nduka as a capable hand.
“I assisted them to raise money to buy enough equipment (guns) needed for the job. Two weeks later, we were ready. My initial duty was to stay in the bush with victims but I refused because as a married man, what would I tell my family as my reason to switch off my phone? I ended up picking the simplest job which is to sell all the stolen cars. I did that several times and was given my share.
“I was able to save enough money to buy a Lexus Jeep. And to show my friends in Lagos that I was doing well, I travelled down with it. As expected, they were excited and very happy for me. One of them, Ade, asked if I could help him buy cheap cars. I told him boldly that the only cheap cars in Nigeria are stolen cars and that if he was interested, I would make arrangements for him to get one.
“I was further assured that he was reliable when he gave me a pump action rifle as advance. In this business, (giving) such a thing as gift is priceless. I told the gang in Owerri of my specification – Lexus 330 – and they got it in less than two days. I warned him to remove the tracking device but he was careless and the owners traced the car to Lagos, and he was arrested.
“I would have been arrested, but my source in Lagos alerted me as soon as he was arrested. I went underground till I got information that he had settled the matter. In this business, as long as the robbers are not in police net, the buyer can deny that he does not know the real cost. It was during that period that I was hiding that the police arrested Richard and sent him to Owerri prison.
“When I got information that Ade had settled with the police, I came out again. I knew that it was my time to organise things. I called Nduka and told him of my intention. I volunteered my car for combing (scouting for possible victims). The first job I did was not so successful, except for the car which was sold. On that day, we came out at about 8:30 p.m. and were driving around MCC-Urata Road in Owerri, when we spotted a woman inside a Toyota Highlander. We trailed her till she got to the gate of her house. I used my car to obstruct her, while the others jumped down and forced her to step into my car. They took her to our camp in Urata, while I drove the Highlander to Abia State where it was sold for N300, 000.
“I was still waiting to collect the money for the car when my boys called, insisting that they would release the woman. They said they could only get N17, 000 from her and that her  husband, who is a pensioner, could not raise any money. It was when they told me that she is a teacher and that Governor Rochas Okorocha was owing them, that I told them to release the woman.
“I continued to organise things in Owerri  till Richard called me from the prison. He lamented that times were hard in the prison and that he needed my assistance. He pleaded that I should join forces with some specialists from Aba. Initially, I was reluctant because I was scared that the police wanted to use Richard to arrest me. I ignored him for some weeks till I received a call when I was praying. I was praying with my family one morning, and I got a call from Onyema. I told him that I would call him back as soon as I was done with prayers.
“To be sure that I was not making a mistake, I refused to call back, but Onyema later called me. I asked them to come to Mbaise for further discussion. They were able to convince me. I invited them to Mbaise. I had to invite Nduka and some of my boys to join them since I didn’t trust them. Initially, I was disappointed when they told me that it was the same roaming. They assured me that it would be a huge success, that they only needed my car.
“On January 7, 2016, we were patrolling that MCC Road, close to Toronto Roundabout in Owerri town. We spotted a man with an exotic car and followed him till he got to the gate of his house. As soon as he stopped and waited for someone to open the gate, we overpowered him and took over the car, while I drove mine. His wife saw us and we simply told her to keep her phone close. I wanted to take over the car but I discovered that it had a tracker. We abandoned the car and used my own.
“On getting to Onyema’s house along Mbaise Road, he said his girlfriend was coming from Lagos. We were deliberating on where to keep him when I remembered Udochukwu’s accommodation in the village. We had done a lot of work together and I knew that he would not fail me. I told him my situation and he said he could not go to the bush that night. He suggested that I should bring the man to his place, that his parents were not around.
“In the morning, around 4:00 a.m., I took the man to Udochukwu’s place and he spent three days. After his family paid the ransom of N1million, I waited till the next day before I took him close to Owerri and gave him transport money. After getting my own share of the loot, I asked my wife to cook rice and stew and that I wanted to go and visit a relative, who was in prison. I gave him some money and also gave him update on how the kidnapping sailed through. The same Richard that connected me, I tried to extend to him. They used to hide. When everything was settled, I went there to give him some money.
“It was when they arrested me that I realised that he was actually warning me to stop crime. That was why he allowed Onyema to call me while I was praying with my family. I am destined to be a pastor; it’s just that I have not accepted my calling. Come to the police cell, you will notice that all the inmates are gradually giving their lives to Christ.”
Poverty led me into crime — Second suspect Nduka Nwankwo
“I am a native of Obioma-ngwa in Abia State and aged 33. Ugochukwu happened to have links with Richard, whom I met in the past. I used to sell second-hand clothes in Aba, and then I was sincerely working hard till Richard visited me at the market. He asked if I had the heart to look for  real money. I told him that I was ready to do anything to make money and save myself from poverty. To test my ability, he took me into the bush where they kept one man that they kidnapped. They collected N900, 000 and gave me N80, 000, just for observing. I did a lot of jobs with them, especially in Imo State until they were arrested, including Richard.
“Richard linked me up with Ugochukwu, and the first job I did with them was a teacher who was driving a Toyota Highlander. I specifically allowed her to go because she is a teacher and she claimed that Governor Rochas Okorocha was owing them. I even checked her account with her ATM card and discovered that it was empty. We only found books, jewellery and N17, 000 that she just withdrew from her account. Her husband, who is a pensioner, tried his best but could not raise anything. I gave her N1, 000 and released her since they took her Highlander.
“After the South African man’s job, I was living my life when police came and raided the area. They found me with cocaine. I called Ugochukwu from the police cell not knowing that they had arrested him.
 Third suspect Kenneth Levi: a fire inccident forced me into kidnapping
“I am from Osisioma Ngwa and 32 years-old. I’m not married, but my girlfriend is pregnant. I dropped out of school after JSS3 because of money. My father had seven children and life was very hard for all of us. I did menial jobs till I came of age to open a chemist store. I did well till fire gutted the shop in 2010. During those days, I had friends who were into bad things and they ended up in prison. They are Chima and Obinna and  they are still in prison at the moment. They are my village brothers and were arrested over car snatching. When they got to the prison, they met Richard, an inmate who told them that ‘they’ had a very big gun somewhere. They said that they had a gun somewhere and that Chimakpa their brother would show them where the guns were hidden.
“My brothers called me from the prison and I visited them. They insisted that I must come personally, that it was not something they could discuss on phone. They convinced me that they needed me to work for them in order to raise money to pursue their case. They convinced me that they needed that gun to raise money to pursue their case. They asked me to go back and wait for a call from Chimakpa, and he later called me and we met. I met Chimakpa at an agreed spot and he was driving a Range Rover. He told  me that he just came back from prison. They gave him my numbers, and he showed me the guns and said that we would use it for ‘KP’ (kidnapping).
“I agreed to work with him, not just to help those in prison but because I needed money. He refused to work with me because I did not have a car. He specifically told me that I needed a car if I wanted to work with him. I had to convince my dad to sell one of his lands to raise money for me. He had no choice because he had already lost two of his sons to death. I was so special to him. I used the money to buy a car, and called him back that I was ready to work. To convince him that I was ready, Chimakpa transferred all the guns into my car and we used it for several kidnappings. Gradually, he introduced me to some of his gang members and  that was how I met Onyema. I also helped them to buy AK-47 rifles from Calabar.
“We also did a lot of work but I realised that Chimakpa and his close friends were cheating me because they were the owners of the guns. I started giving excuses so that I can have reasons to start my own gang. Luckily, Chimakpa was arrested and since I had access to those guns, I started looking for my gang members. My brothers in prison linked me up with Richard’s number. Richard is an inmate with several links outside. He was the one who introduced me to Ugochukwu.
“Ugochukwu is based in Imo State and all the jobs that we did were in Owerri. In one of the incidents, police tracked us down and we escaped. They confiscated my car and in attempt to recover it, I reported to the nearest police station and they alerted the anti-kidnapping department who detained me. I kept denying and praying that none of my gang members should be arrested. When they got tired of detaining me, they released me and handed the car over to me.”
On how he was arrested, he said: “I was in my house, one of my friends called me asking for where to buy ammunition.”
How I ran into trouble with the police— Fourth suspect Onyema Uzodinma
“I am from Egbu, in Owerri North. I am 34 and yet to get married to my girlfriend who is heavily pregnant. Most of the kidnap jobs that we handled took place along Uratta Road and Concord Hotel signboard that is known as MCC Road.
“My journey into the criminal world dates back to 2007. I chose my own path out of desperation to make it in life. After dropping out of secondary school, I learnt how to wash cars and gradually established my own car wash. I had one generous customer, one Chief  Eze, and we became friends. He told me the truth that he buys stolen cars. I told him that I was willing to do anything that would help me grow financially. He asked if I was willing to help him transport stolen cars from Owerri to Aba and I said yes after we agreed that he would pay N15, 000 for each car that I successfully transported to Aba.
“Unfortunately, the first day that I tried, I landed in police detention. I was on my way to Aba when policemen stopped me along Aba-Port Harcourt Road. They asked who owned the car and I told them that it belonged to my chairman and that he asked me to bring the car to Aba for him. It was a black Toyota Corrolla. To further convince them, I called him and he told them that he would come the next day. I spent days in police cell and he did not come around. The police concluded that it was a stolen car and I was sent to prison. I was remanded in Owerri Prison for seven months, and within those months, Chief Eze was also arrested and sent to the same prison.
“Luckily, my mother got a lawyer and I was released on bail. When I got home, my parents bought me a bike for me to manage my life. I met a guy who suggested that we could go into kidnapping. I did several jobs with them, and I was very important to the group because they normally used the bush in my area to keep all the persons that we kidnapped. They blew up that camp when one of our members refused to abide by the rules.
“We kidnapped a woman and her son and kept them in the bush. It was my responsibility to send food to them but the guy that there was asked to watch over him decided to come out, and since he was not known within the area, they were able to decode that something was wrong. I guess that was why the police stormed the area.
“This happened in 2013 and I decided to be doing stuff (stealing) by myself until Levi called me that there was a job. It was the Range Rover sports vehicle which we got along Nnazi Road. We were roaming as usual, when we spotted a ‘sharp’ car. We got the driver and took over the car. He was moved over to the car that we were driving. We were heading into the bush when the car suddenly stopped. We tried to start the car but discovered that the tracking device had been activated. I jumped out of the car before the police could get to us. They rescued the man.
“I warned them not to involve me in any kidnapping in which they did not study the target very well, although I was later convinced to join them for the South African job. I agreed because I needed money to help my family and visit some of my friends in prison.”
Fifth suspect Udochukwu Nwanguma: how I was lured into kidnapping
“I am a native of Owutu Community in Mbaise, Imo State. I am 37 and married with five children. My parents were very poor, so I did not have the opportunity to go back to advance my education. After my secondary school, I relocated to Benin where I learnt to be a mechanic.
“At a point, we were no longer getting customers and I was not getting younger either. I switched over to transport business and did well. This was when I met my wife and we got married, and after some years, I moved my family down to Akwa Ibom. After the birth of our third child, I relocated to the village because transport business was no longer paying me. The bus that I bought was taken away from me because I could not finish paying for it.
“Back in the village, I learnt how to drill boreholes, while my wife started selling things from the market. She also got pregnant again and again. Although the money that I was making was not much, it was okay to feed my large family. I had a roof over our head, so no one was talking about rent.
“Meanwhile, Ugochukwu, my townsman, became very close to me. He always asked for my help anytime the need arose. I always assisted him to drive cars since I am a professional driver, and in exchange, he would pay me some money that would be enough to better the life of my family. I was not doing anything violent except helping him to drive his car till he called me in January at about 11:00 p.m. I picked up the phone and he asked whether I was at home and that he was on the way to my house.
“He told me that there was a man that they kidnapped and they were having issues with where they could keep the man. They wanted to take the man to the bush and that I should come and stay with him. I told him that he would have given me enough time. I told my wife of the request that Ugochukwu made. I convinced her that it was Ugochukwu that gave us the money we used to celebrate Christmas. Then, I was heavily in debt over a failed borehole construction and my deadline to refund or rebuild was fast approaching. I now reasoned very well and told Ugochukwu that, as my brother, I do not want to disappoint him especially. Instead of going into the bush, I suggested that we should make use of my mother’s kitchen.
“It was around 3:00 a.m. that I decided to follow Ugochukwu to a place where they were doing wake. At that wake, we drank well and he told me to wait, that he would bring the man around 4:00 a.m. We kept him in my mother’s kitchen. I was the one taking care of the man. The man was even scared that they might kill him, but I assured him that as long as he was in my hands, no one would hurt him. I bought bottled water for him since he refused to eat.
“The man even said if I could help him escape, he would find a way to give me money. I told him that there was no way he would give me money. Luckily, in the evening, they picked the man. I was so happy that I had money to settle my debt. Unfortunately, when we wanted to carry the man, my younger brother saw them and caught the joke. I opened up to him, but he cautioned me and said that whatever came out, I should find money for him to go back to school. I told the gang. They gave me N80, 000 and gave the boy N50, 000. Later on, I counted the money and realised it was N70, 000. I gave my wife N10, 000 to buy anything of her choice.
“On the night of January 14, I was with my family. I saw a car ‘flashing’ its light and I was relieved when I saw that it was Ugochukwu’s car. I saw Ugochukwu sitting in the passenger’s seat. I asked him how far, and he said: “Nna Ugba akuola (there is trouble). I pray that government should forgive me because of my children.”
My four-day ordeal in kidnappers’ den, by South Africa-based victim
The victim, Victor Ogadinma, paid the sum of N1million before he was released. He said: “I am based in South Africa and I came back during the Christmas period to see my family. I was in front of my house, waiting for my family to open the gate, when three heavily armed men accosted me and forced me out of the car into the back seat. It was around 7:30 p.m. My wife came out while they were struggling to push me into the car and she was pushed down.
“They asked me if the car had a tracker and I told them yes. They transferred us into another car. They took me to Port Harcourt Road and also asked if I had any money.
“I told them that I had N220, 000 and $2, 000 dollars and some European currencies. They blindfolded me and took me to a house and later moved me to another house in the village around 4:00 a.m. They dropped me inside a dirty kitchen and demanded that my family bring N30 million. We kept beating the price to N15 million. I told them that the much my family can afford was N5 million but they could not raise that very money. The next day, my family was able to give them N1million. I was picked on January 7 and released January 10, and they fed me with only water. They offered me food and I chose only water.”