Inside Delta kidnap gangs: Cliques run by North, Southeast, Delta natives
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By Emma Amaize, South-South Regional Editor
The residents of Delta State are being terrorized by three classified kidnap formations, along with other splinter groups, sources revealed.
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Although it is not entirely accurate, many locals blame the main kidnapping operators in the state on Fulani ethnic extraction hijackers in northern Nigeria.
Some criminally inclined young people from Delta State and the South-East part of the nation are also involved in kidnapping people for financial gain in the state.
In the state’s north, south, and central senatorial districts, the kidnappers have their tentacles widely dispersed throughout the communities of Ubuluku-Uku, Ogwashi-Uku, Issele-Azagba, Azagba-Ogwashi-Uku, Otulu, Ozoro, Onicha-Ukwuani, Urhonigbe, Igbanke, Abraka, Ohoror, Obiaruku, Oghara, and Sapele.
Conscripted boys are subjected to fear and intimidation by the kidnap kingpins, who establish hideouts in the forest and control their respective territories.
Weekly targets are set for the different branches under them, and they sometimes send proxies or visit the kidnap havens. It is a business matter.
Rings by South-Easterners
After serving time in prison, a notorious lawless kingpin from the Southeast moved to Delta State and established a hostage-taking gang.
The gangsters are devoted to the leader, whose strategy involves kidnapping victims and transporting them to remote areas where they demand various ransoms from their family members and close associates.
Due to their familiarity with the area and length of time spent in certain communities, some criminals from the Southeast states have also established kidnap squads to terrorize the locals.
Police at the Akwukwu-Igbo Police Division, Akwukwu-Igbo, recently arrested members of a robbery/kidnapping group headed by a Southeasterner in collaboration with the Anioma vigilante group.
Along the roads and forests, the group allegedly attacked, robbed, and kidnapped residents of Akwukwu-Igbo, Illah, and the neighboring communities.
Before relocating to Asaba and establishing a criminal gang, the gang’s leader had lived in one of the communities for many years.
Delta locals’ motley hijack gangs
There are also various capture gangs in the state operated by the natives. To prevent recognizable victims from identifying them, they wear masks.
A masked kidnapper fled into the bush a few months ago after a motorcyclist in the Ubulu-Uku community recognized his voice and called out his name.
As of the time of this report, he is still a wanted man in the community.
Residents of practically every community in the state are terrorized by certain bad boys suspected to be locals. Some had a difficult time operating in their communities for a long time, so they brought in outsiders.
Some of them recruit criminals with AK-47 rifles from the north of the country to bolster their gang.
An Abraka kidnapping gang led by northerners
A Fulani brigand established one of the state’s most prominent kidnapping gangs in the Abraka region. The band operates in the university town through the railway to Obiaruku, Abavo, Idumu-Esah, and Owa-Alero–Agbor.
The kingpin camped his boys in a forest a few kilometers from the mini train station near McCarthy Beach, Abraka. The hideout is situated on the border between Edo and Delta States.
The kidnap linchpin himself does not reside in Delta State. He lives in the Okada part of Edo State, while his boys stay in the forest.
The police, in a joint operation with local hunters, vigilantes, and anti-cult volunteers, killed four suspected kidnappers operating along the Abraka railway axis in a gun battle in June this year.
Superintendent Bright Edafe, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Delta State Police Command, said a victim identified one of the deceased suspects as the leader of the gang that abducted him.
Ozoro/Ndokwa clique
Kidnappers have another blossoming division called the Ozoro/Ndokwa kidnap gang. The former leader, Yakubu, a northerner, was killed in an operation in the Ndokwa area. A new leader, also a northerner, has since emerged.
Ohoror-Uwheru-Agadama abduction crew
Mohammed heads the Ohoror gang, which covers the Ohoror, Uwheru, and Agadama blocs. He hibernates in the Tanker Park area of the Ekpan community in the Uvwie Local Government Area, from where he coordinates his boys.
Mohammed is highly connected. He masterminded with his boys the kidnapping of three anti-riot police officers in January 2024. His military contact leaked a covert operation by the police to apprehend him in his Ekpan hideout after a three-day surveillance months ago.
The police once arrested Mohammed and other suspected kidnappers, but an influential northern leader reportedly colluded with some police officers to influence his release.
Ika-Obiaruku gang
Mohammed’s deputy supervises the operations in the Ika–Obiaruku area. The gang was responsible for the kidnapping of a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Abavo, Delta State, in December 2023. The gang’s controller sometimes takes refuge at Agenebode community, near Auchi, Edo State, to escape the police.
Ogwashi-Uku-Issele-Azagba-Okpanam-Ibusa-Otulu line-ups
There is a different group of kidnappers functioning around the Ogwashi-Uku, Issele-Azagba, and Okpanam-Otulu communities.
Some of the kidnappers are suspected criminals of Fulani extraction, but the Delta natives and other Igbo criminals are in the mix.
Police track down Usman, the kidnap kingpin — Abaniwonda, Delta compol
Olufemi Abaniwonda, Commissioner of Police, Delta State, disclosed in April that the police arrested a hunted top dog, Abubakar Usman, also known as Shehu, who later died with four members of the gang, following injuries they sustained in a gun battle with the police in April.
“Upon interrogation, the suspect confessed to multiple crimes, including the kidnapping of a medical doctor at Issele-uku, Delta State; the kidnapping of the wife and daughter of Mr. Godwin Anuka at Ogwashi-Uku and his subsequent murder; and also the kidnapping and murder of Ms. Esther Ojoh at Ibusa,” the commissioner stated.
… demobilized two in the Ogwashi-Uku forest
The commissioner also disclosed that the operatives of the Special Anti-Kidnapping and Cybercrime Squad of the Delta State Police Command, in a combined effort with men of the Nigerian Army, 63 Brigade, Nigerian Army Base, stormed the Ogwashi-Uku forest hideout of some suspected kidnappers and killed two kidnappers in a shootout on July 30.
He said the security operatives recovered a bag containing N3,500,000, supposed ransom collected from victims, an AK-47 rifle, and 39 rounds of live ammunition.Abaniwonda also said the Commissioner of Police Special Assignment Team (CP-SAT), with support from the X-Squad and Buffalo Patrol Team, stormed a criminal hideout in Ibusa and arrested a kidnapper, Chiadiji, who took the operatives to his Ewulu community residence in the Aniocha South local government area, where they recovered an AK-47 rifle and 40 rounds of 7.62 mm live ammunition.
The state police boss said further investigation led to the arrest of Andrew, his colleague-kidnapper in the Ogwashi-Uku and Issele-Uku axis, in whose possession the police found two pump-action guns and two live cartridges.
… upset Sapele-Oghara kidnap syndicate
The commissioner revealed that “sequel to a series of intelligence reports on the planned abduction of some high-profile persons in Sapele, Oghara, and environs by a notorious syndicate under the leadership of one Owei, the police arrested one Peter Benson, a 35-year-old male suspect from Kwale, a herbalist, responsible for ritual preparations for the criminal gang.
“Following intensive interrogation, Peter led operatives to another suspect, Joseph, of the Ajakoroma community in the Ovia South-West local government area, Edo State, in possession of three live tortoises and other fetish items believed to be used in criminal fortification rituals,” he said.
Insecurity diminishes — Brigadier-General Shonibare, Commissioner Abaniwonda
The commander of the 63 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Brigadier-General M.A. Shonibare, who briefed reporters after the last State Security Council meeting chaired by Governor Sheriff Oborevwori in Asaba, claimed that there was a marked decline in kidnapping and cult-related crimes in the state.
“The cases of kidnappings have dramatically reduced, and cultists no longer have a foothold here,” Shonibare stated, adding that in recent joint operations with the Nigeria Police Special Anti-Kidnapping Squad, operatives rescued three students unharmed, neutralized two suspected kidnappers, and recovered two AK-47 rifles, magazines, and 16 rounds of ammunition.
The brigade commander also disclosed successful raids against fleeing criminal elements, including Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), operatives seeking refuge in Asaba, Warri, and surrounding communities, warning, “Those who think Delta State is a haven should think twice.”
CP Abaniwona, who corroborated the brigade commander’s claim, highlighted the command’s recent achievements in synergy with other security agencies.
These included the neutralization of several kidnap suspects, the recovery of multiple firearms, including AK-47s and pump-action rifles, and the seizure of N5.7 million in ransom money from kidnappers.
Olufemi assured residents and investors of a peaceful festive season, noting that preparations for the ember months were already underway.
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