Police neutralize killers of Rivers community chairman, arrest five others

The State Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, made this known during a press conference at the state headquarters in Port Harcourt on Thursday, September 12, 2024.

According to the CP, the suspects are members of a gang led by a notorious cult member, Daddy Chukwu, who was tracked down from his hideout in Delta State earlier this year and killed after the murder of Livingstone.

According to the CP, another five members of Daddy Chukwu’s gang were arrested during the operation at one of their camps in Aluu village.

“Recall the assassination of the then Chairman of the Community Development Council (CDC) of Mgbuoshimini, Chief Ndidi Livingstone, on January 13, 2024, outside his church, the Peculiar Faith Ministries, Rumueme,” the CP said.

“In that operation, four men stormed the church, dragged the victim outside and murdered him. They shot him four times with AK-47 rifles, in the presence of his wife, son and church members.

“The cold-blooded murder carried out in broad daylight was captured in a viral video that sparked outrage. I led a team of operatives from the FID-Intelligence Response Team and the Rivers State Command on a nationwide manhunt for the killers.

“The special team identified the four men in the video, including the mastermind behind the murder, Peter Daddy Chukwu, who was traced to a hideout in Ibusa, Delta State on April 5, 2024. His attempt to resist arrest led to his death.

“In the subsequent press conference after the death of Daddy Chukwu, I assured that every member of the gang would be arrested. The relentless 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 murder and another six persons belonging to their criminal network. These are the profiles of the suspects.

1. NNAMDI EMMANUEL ALIAS BYC ‘m’ 35 years from Onicha LGA, Ebonyi State. He spent seven (7) years in Port Harcourt Maximum Prison for burglary and was released in May 2023. Immediately after his release, he ventured into kidnapping in Abia State after which he joined a more sophisticated kidnapping gang operating in Anambra and Rivers State. He was assigned the role of hostage for the gang, participating in two separate kidnappings but became dissatisfied with his role and was thrown out of the deals. He instigated a quarrel over ransom sharing with the gang leader and killed him before pushing the corpse into a nearby river.

He then stole the kidnap gang’s two AK-47 rifles, escaped to Port Harcourt and joined an armed robbery gang led by one Ogolo Promise. Ogolo and his gang carried out armed robbery operations they called ‘bank tracing’. The operation would see them follow customers withdrawing hard currency from banks before robbing them. He received about $2,000 from the armed robberies they carried out. His stock in the underworld grew and he was often hired to facilitate operations for various criminal groups. He crossed paths with Daddy Chukwu and joined them from December 2023 to January 2024 to carry out two assassination operations and a hotel bombing. He shot the deceased Ndidi Livingstone in the foot on the day he was killed. Officers seized two AK-47 rifles, 141 rounds of live ammunition and 8 magazines from him.

2. JOHN LUCAS ‘m’, 34 years old from Logoro LGA, Bauchi State, claimed that he was a discharged Corporal of the Nigerian Army in 2014 for desertion. He had been in prison for drug trafficking and since his release, he has been involved in various crimes.

Daddy Chukwu recruited him in December 2023 to become a henchman at BYC and together they unleashed evil on his rivals. Lucas was seen in the viral video taking the final shot that killed Chief Livingstone.

John Lucas also led a gang that specialized in recruiting mercenaries for his criminal activities. He was also involved in a robbery where he successfully diverted 56 Skyrun refrigerators in Akwa Ibom State. IEDs, numerous military uniforms, five Skyrun refrigerators and the Black Highlander vehicle that was used on the day Chief Livingstone was killed were recovered from him.

3. ADEBAYO ADEBAYO ‘m’ 48 years of Ado Ekiti LGA, Ekiti State claimed that he was discharged as a sergeant in the Nigerian Army in 2019. John Lucas recruited him to participate in the assassination of Chief Livingstone. He was seen in the video wearing a special forces shirt.

After the police announced a manhunt for him, he became a journeyman moving from one state to another to evade arrest but this did not deter the police as he was traced to each state. Thinking that he had escaped the police’s grasp, he eventually settled in Kwale, Delta State where he was employed as a Chief Security Officer (CSO) of a Waste Management Company. He was arrested while on duty at his new place of employment.

During the investigation, four of the suspects, John Lucas ‘m’, Nnamdi Emmanuel, m’, Ogolo Promise ‘m’ and Adebayo Adebayo ‘m’, led the officers to one of their camps in Pipeline, Aluu village, to confiscate their arms cache.

As they approached the camp, they were heavily fired upon by gangsters suspected of being gang members. The suspects attempted to escape the ambush that followed, but were caught in the crossfire.

The hoodlums were eventually subdued and the suspects were taken to UPTH for medical attention. The doctor confirmed that they were dead and they were deposited at UPTH mortuary for autopsy. The suspects will be arraigned in court once investigations are complete.

“Efforts are still underway to arrest more suspects linked to Daddy Chukwu’s criminal network and possibly seize more arms and ammunition,” the CP said.

A total of 2 AK-47 rifles, 1 assault rifle, 2 SMG rifles, 1 shotgun, 10 magazines, 150 live rounds and 1 pistol were recovered.