From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Rivers State Police Command has neutralised four suspected gang members who participated in the murder of the Community Development Council (CDC) Chairman of Mgbuoshimini, Ndidi Livingstone, on January 13, 2024.
The victim was shot dead in front of his Church, the Peculiar Faith Ministries, Rumueme, in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state.
The State Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, yesterday at a press briefing ,said the suspects were neutralized in a crossfire between the Police and members of their gang.
Disu recalled that in the operation, four men stormed the church, dragged the victim out and murdered him, shooting the CDC chairman four times with AK-47 rifles, in the presence of his wife, son and congregants of the church.
Disu ordered a team of operatives of the FID-Intelligence Response Team and the Rivers State Command on a nationwide manhunt for the killers and the special team identified the four men in a viral video that captured the killing, including the mastermind of the assassination, Peter Daddy Chukwu, who was gunned down in one of his hideouts in Ibusa, Delta State, on April 5, 2024.
Disu said the mastermind’s attempt to resist arrest led to his death.
He stated that the unrelenting manhunt for the perpetrators seen shooting and killing the deceased in the viral video has now led to the arrest of the three other persons directly responsible for the assassination and six more persons belonging to their criminal network.
The CP gave the names of the arrested suspects as Nnamdi Emmanuel, alias BYC (35 years) from Onicha LGA, Ebonyi State. He shot the late Ndidi Livingstone in the foot on the day he was killed.
Another suspect, named John Lucas, 34, from Logoro LGA, Bauchi State, claimed to be a dismissed Lance Corporal from the Nigeria Army for desertion in 2014.
He said Lucas was seen in the viral video taking the final shot that killed Chief Livingstone.
He disclosed that Lucas also operated a gang that specialised in procuring guns for hire for his criminal activities.
Items recovered from him were: Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), numerous military uniforms, five Skyrun refrigerators and the Black Highlander vehicle used on the day Livingstone was murdered.
Also arrested was Adebayo Adebayo,48, from Ado Ekiti LGA, Ekiti State. He claimed to be a dismissed Sergeant from the Nigeria Army in 2019.
He told the Police that John Lucas recruited him to join in the assassination of Livingstone. He was seen in the video wearing a special forces shirt.
Disu said after the Force declared a manhunt for him, the suspect became a journeyman moving from one state to another seeking to evade arrest, but this did not deter the police as he was traced to every state.
He said: “Thinking that he had escaped the reach of the police, he eventually settled down in Kwale, Delta State, where he got employed as a Chief Security Officer (CSO) of a Waste Management Company. He was apprehended while on duty at his new place of work.”
