The Rivers state police command has rescued a 13-year-old girl who went missing on June 5, 2025 at about 1530hrs, while running an errand for her mother in Umuebule community, Etche Local Government Area.
The victim’s mother had alerted the police about the incident and subsequent phone call from the abductors demanding Two Million Naira (N2,000,000) ransom, threatening that the daughter will be k!lled if the demand was not met.
Operatives from the C4i Intelligence unit promptly swung into action, arresting a 24-year-old female suspect from Igbo-Etche, suspected to be the subscriber of the SIM cards linked to the ransom demands. The suspect had allegedly claimed that her phone was robbed on June 5, 2025.
Further investigation on June 10, 2025 culminated in the arrest of the principal suspect, Chizoba Andrew Obi, a 36-year-old male suspect and the kidnapped victim was rescued unhurt in a fenced forest at Umuechem Community, Etche Local Government Area.
The spokesperson of the command, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, who confirmed the incident, said the following exhibits were recovered from the hideout of the assailants.
One Locally made Pistol, One live Cartridge.
The police PRO said during interrogation, the suspect confessed to being a serial kidnapping kingpin operating with a four-man gang.
As Police Operatives were led by the suspect to the forest to recover their operational weapons, the gang members on sighting the Police Operatives opened fire, prompting a shootout between the Police and kidnappers. The arrested suspect attempted to flee but was caught in the crossfire and was neutralized, sustaining bullet wounds, while other members of the gang escaped with varying degrees of gunshot wounds. He was rushed to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) for medical treatment, but was pronounced dead by the Medical Doctor on duty. The corpse of the deceased suspect has been deposited at the mortuary for autopsy.” Iringe-Koko said
The police imagemaker added that the victim was debriefed and has been reunited with her family.
She further stated that investigation is ongoing, with efforts underway to apprehend other members of the syndicate and recover their operational weapons.
