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Police detain four cops, begin investigation into alleged kidnapping of Rivers hotel worker
This was as the command has paraded 12 suspected armed robbers, kidnappers and cultists for their involvement in different criminal activities at different parts of the state.
It was gathered that some policemen on patrol had intercepted one Darlington Bieh, who hails from Taabaa in Khana Local Government Area of the state, around Choba in Obio/Akpor LGA and taken him to an unknown destination and demanded the said amount of money.
It was learnt that the policemen had apprehended their victim around 8pm on Saturday on his way to work and searched his bags, pockets including his phone, but did not see anything incriminating.
A source, who hinted newsmen of the development, said the police while scrolling through their victim’s phone had seen pictures and found out that the young man works in a big hotel around the area.
The source said the police men had told the victim to call his family to send N1 million for his bail out, threatening to kill and throw his corpse into Choba river should his family fail.
The source also claimed that the policemen took their victim to Aluu in Ikwerre LGA, while awaiting the payment from his family.
However, the victim had instead of calling his father had called his boss, the owner of the hotel where he (victim) works and that his boss in turn called a DPO in the area who pretended to be the victim’s father to discuss with the criminal officers.
The source further revealed that the criminal minded officers negotiated the amount of money with the DPO through the boy’s phone believing he was the young man’s father.
But at about 1:00am on Sunday, the DPO who pretended to be the young man’s father took his men and met them and the Rogue cops at an agreed area in Aluu, disarmed them and arrested all of them.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Disu Olatunji, in his maiden press briefing in Port Harcourt on the achievement of Police within last month said some officers have been arrested on the said allegation, but that no official complaint has been raised against them.
He said: “I have read something like that on the social media over the weekend, I have not gotten any official complaint about it. Despite that, I went to town with my officers and I want to tell you that officers who had contact with that victim have been arrested.
“They have been arrested. So, I am waiting for complaint from the victim, so that I will know what and what to look out for. The officers are there in the custody, we are not hiding anything. When the complaint comes, we will give you details of what we have done.
“If I don’t get complaint from members of the public on this, I will believe everything is okay. All of us are in this together,” he stated.
Speaking on the arrest of the 12 criminals, Olatunji, noted that two cult leaders from Kereken Community in Khana LGA were arrested after they kidnapped the Community Development Committee Chairman of the Community, collected N200, 000 ransom and still buried their victim alive.
He said: “On the day of resumption, I had before me a security deficit in many areas of Rivers State. One of those areas was Khana Local Government, and we immediately deployed tactical units to quell the situation. Gentlemen of the press, after concluding intense surveillance on 15th November, in separate crack operations, men of the Anti-Cultism Unit arrested Baridapdo Igia, 33yrs and Elvis Gordon, 26yrs two suspected Armed robbers and kidnappers in Kereken-Boue community of Khana Local Government Area.
“After a series of interrogations, the duo confessed to being leaders of Iceland and Degbam cult groups in Khana Local Government Area, respectively and have been terrorising Khana Local Government Area for the past three years.
“These cult groups have been known to have endless clashes in the community. During interrogations, they also admitted to kidnapping and burying alive one Praise Daakian, a former CDC Chairman in Khana Local Government Area. They murdered the victim after collecting the sum of NGN200,000 as part of payment for his ransom from the victim’s wife,” he said.
He noted that all the suspects would be charged to court for prosecution upon completion of investigation.
Arrests 13 officers for indecent dressing
However, the Commissioner of Police in the State, Disu revealed that the command on Friday December 1st, arrested 13 officers over indecent dressing.
The CP gave the assurance in a radio programme organized by the Force Public Relations department in Abuja which was monitored in Port Harcourt on Saturday December 2,2023 by our reporter.
Disu, who disclosed that the officers were arrested during patrol by a monitoring unit in various part of the Port Harcourt noted that the arrest is part of an ongoing effort to eradicate indecent dressing by officers of the command.
He also revealed that the head of the Units or Divisions where the arrested Police officers are serving would be vicariously liable too, for the personnel action, noting that the arrested officers are in detention.
Meantime, the Rivers State Police Command has not commented the arrest of the policemen involved in the alleged kidnap of the worker in a hotel. (Vanguard)
The United States Department of Homeland Security has added 10 Nigerians to its “Worst of the Worst” register, a database highlighting immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement over alleged criminal offences.
The latest names were published on the official DHS website and include individuals linked to cases involving fraud, identity theft, drug offences, assault, conspiracy and offences involving children.
The 10 Nigerians listed in the latest update are:
Temitope Bashua — Wire fraud, identity theft and fraud — Allenwood, Pennsylvania
Ojehoro Lewis — Cruelty towards a child — Conroe, Texas
Osemudiamen Kingsley Oziegbe — Wire fraud — Louisville, Kentucky
Daniel Oworen — Dangerous drugs — Conroe, Texas
Raymond H. Ekevwo — Wire fraud — Oxford, Wisconsin
Franklin Dikeocha — Sex offence against a child – fondling — Dallas, Texas
Johnson Ogunlana — Fraud and identity theft — White Deer, Pennsylvania
Chukwuemeka Okorocha — Wire fraud, dangerous drugs, possession of a weapon and aggravated assault involving a non-family gun — Allenwood, Pennsylvania
Tunde Korede — Conspiracy — Allenwood, Pennsylvania
Chukwuemeka Chinye — Larceny from a banking-type institution, fraud, larceny, identity theft and conspiracy — Pollock, Louisiana
DHS said the register was established to draw attention to immigrants it describes as the “worst of worst criminal aliens” arrested by ICE.
“Every day, the patriots of ICE are working to target the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from our country. Just yesterday, ICE arrested murderers, pedophiles, kidnappers, and other violent criminals to make America safe again,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, there will be no safe haven for illegal aliens, including in sanctuary cities which put illegal aliens over their own citizens. We will never apologize for arresting and deporting illegal aliens, because that’s how we protect American lives.”
The department said the latest immigration enforcement actions were part of the Trump administration’s deportation policy.
“Under DHS leadership, the hardworking men and women of DHS and ICE are fulfilling President Trump’s promise and carrying out mass deportations – starting with the worst of the worst – including the illegal aliens you see here,” the department said.
The latest publication comes after DHS released another list in July containing 124 Nigerians arrested by ICE and identified on the same register.
The July list featured Nigerians associated with a range of criminal offences, although the department did not provide specific deportation dates for those individuals
…Orders CCTV installation to stop vandalism
The federal government on Friday announced the closure of the River Niger bridge for one week.
The closure is to carry out repairs on the vandalised sections of the River Niger bridge road and install security architecture in the area.
Minister for Works, Engr Dave Umahi, disclosed this at Ogbunike in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra during an inspection tour of the bridge and other roads under construction in the South East and South South geopolitical zones of the country.
The first River Niger Bridge linking Asaba and Onitsha
He said motorists would, at the closure of the bridge, be directed to the Second Niger Bridge in order to give the contractors an adequate time frame to carry out the necessary repairs.
Recall that suspected vandals had looted vital bolts and irons used in the construction of the bridge, thereby exposing the bridge to obvious collapse and, in the process, threatening the lives of millions of road users and passersby.
He explained that security measures are being taken to avert a repeat occurrence of vandalism on the bridge.
“Bridges are designed for light load and dynamic loads so we have directed that work should start immediately and the entire asphalt be removed and put another one and there will be solar lights on that bridge in the next one week and we shall fix CCTV and connect it to the one in the 2nd Niger Bridge so that security will observe and whoever that tries to touch the bridge again is going to be arrested.
“Now on the first Niger bridge, we have seen the wickedness of the underworld. We have seen the man’s inhumanity to man; those things that they are removing is very dangerous to the beauty of that bridge and we have commenced action on that bridge,” he said.
He added; “There Is so much accumulated workload on that bridge, like it was with the 3rd Mainland Bridge, and every government that comes will put asphalt, and it is causing a lot of gridlock on that bridge.
“So these are the actions that we have taken and then getting down we came to the Enugu – Onitsha express and they are working in three sections and there the Enugu -Onitsha and another one is 17.5 km and the last one is about 20km by two and so I have directed them not to start any asphalt work or concrete work so what they are to do is to take measurements of all the failed sections and it should be milled out and then use 16mm binder to cover them very well all the way from head bridge to 21.5 km and they will finish one carriage way before they go to the other one.
“We have to attempt to work at night so that we don’t interfere with traffic and we have to get the road safety involved and our own local traffic managers they should commence the desilting of the drainage before commencing.
“To that effect we may have to close down the first Niger bridge in seven days time and we direct traffic to the second Niger bridge for us to fix the first Niger bridge in good time,” he stated.
At the ongoing construction of the second Niger Bridge access road, Engr Timothy Emenike, Controller, and Engr Nnamdi explained that there would be no more slow pace of work on the project, adding that the project is being executed from both fronts in order to beat the deadline.
“The project starts from Obosi down to Mkpor and Ogidi and now we are in Ogbunike and along this alignment between the last time you came we are working on several stops along this alignment and you have just seen the second bridge that is ongoing and we are almost about to start the third one”.
“Work pace will not be a hindrance until we exhaust what was given to us by the Anambra state government and I am happy to inform you that since the new Commissioner took over we have been going to the new Commissioner’s office and have been pressuring him to give us more work space.”
According to him, in the next week we shall have another work space of 5km between Obosi axis, working from both ends.
“We are cutting through the hill at Ogbunike to continue the work in that area,” they stated.
Anambra State Commissioner for Works, Arc Okey Ezeobi, announced that the right of way being demanded by the contractors would be granted to them, adding that an additional 5km has been added to the contractors.
Ezeobi thanked President Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Engr Dave Umahi for providing democracy dividends for the people of Anambra and the South East.
He reiterated the support of the people of the state ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“There is no better way to describe this as a renewed hope and not fit saying it and the Hon Minister with what you are doing with our wonderful President for the first time Easterners can come in and move out with ease and the bottleneck they had been a great harassment and that is sending people out of the South East, has been taken care of.
“One can now bypass Onitsha, bypass Asaba and you are on your way.
“You don’t know how glad the people of Anambra and the South East is and thank Mr President for us.
“There is no way to ask for democracy dividend than this and that is when you have a visionary leadership tailored towards alleviating the sufferings of the masses.
“Mr President is developing every part of Nigeria and regarding the right of way for this project, we are finalizing it and we are adding another 5km to what we have now and there will be more than enough for the contractor to work with,” he added.
The family of The Eagle Online publisher, Dotun Oladipo, has announced September 10 and 11, 2026 as the dates for the funeral programmes of the journalist and media entrepreneur.
Oladipo died on Tuesday, August 25, at the age of 56.
According to the family, a service of songs will hold at DayStar Church, Oregun, Ikeja, on Thursday, September 10.
The burial service will take place at the same venue on Friday, September 11, followed by his interment.
Oladipo was president of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) from 2017 to 2021 and was among the foundational members who helped shape the association during its formative years.
GOCOP President, Danlami Nmodu, described his death as a painful loss to the Guild and recalled his contribution to the development of online publishing in Nigeria.Exploring African Diaspora Media
“Dotun played an important role in the development of GOCOP. He led the Guild for four years at a time when there was still a lot of work to be done to establish online publishers as an important part of the media. His contribution will always be remembered,” Nmodu said.
Nmodu said Oladipo brought his experience as a journalist and publisher to the leadership of the Guild.
“Dotun understood journalism and he understood the business of publishing. He was passionate about the place of online media in Nigeria and he gave his time to the growth of the Guild. We are saddened by his passing,” Nmodu said.
Oladipo was also a member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and the International Press Institute (IPI Nigeria), and was active in the development of Nigeria’s online publishing industry.
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