By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-South & Festus Ahon
THERE was nervous serenity in Kokori, the country home of the most wanted kidnapper/armed robbery kingpin in DeltaState, Kelvin Oniarah, 24 hours after he was arrested, Wednesday, at a hotel in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, where he was taking cover with his comrades-in-arms.
The news of his arrest had not reached the troubled community as at 10.47 am on Wednesday, September 25, when Vanguard reporters visited the community, but there was trepidation everywhere. It was visibly etched on the faces of the people.
Vanguard got the news of Kelvin’s arrest at about 5.00 am, two hours
after he was nabbed in Port-Harcourt. A top security official in DeltaState, who
did not want to be quoted confided to one of our crack reporters. DeltaState
Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, was immediately contacted, but he
said, “That is what I am hearing but I do not have the details.”
Internal operation
From his speech, it was overt the arrest was not done in the state, but a police officer claimed the arrest was made by the police in Rivers state, which was later found to be false. Our reporters in Port-Harcourt drew a dead end from the police in Rivers state, as senior officers contacted said they knew nothing about the arrest.
Siege to Kokori: Soldiers, who we later learnt, had been in the community since Monday on “internal operation”, laid siege to the community when we visited and it was not difficult to perceive that their presence was the reason for the edgy serenity. Some of the villagers began to flee the town, same day, suspecting that something ominous could happen with the heavy presence of soldiers in Kokori.
However, unlike Tuesday, September 17, when the villagers, both young and old, came out to dance and rejoice with Kelvin, who literally materialized from the moon, and issued a 60-day ultimatum the State and Federal Governments to develop the community or his group, Liberation Movement of the Urhobo People, LIMUP, would blow up oil facilities, the people were hiding in their houses on September 25
Stop and search: The soldiers stopped our reporters and ordered them to identify themselves. To the warm smile of our Regional Editor, one of the soldiers hollered, “Who is laughing with you, who are you and what are you doing here?” The crew disguised themselves into the town with the vehicle of staff photographer, Akpokona Omafuaire. He was asked to open the booth of the vehicle, while boss was ‘marched’ to the commander to explain their mission to Kokori.
The commander, who appeared quite friendly, was interrogating a pastor and his wife, who were new in town when our team arrived on what they know about Kelvin and his gang. He told our reporters after introduction, “We are on internal operation.” Vanguard broke the news of Kelvin’s arrest in Port-Harcourt to the commander and he said, “That lessens our job.” He later cleared the reporters to proceed on their fact-finding visit, but cautioned them to be careful and introduce themselves properly to “my men when they ask you any question.”
Lock and key
As we drove into the community, it was noticed that many of the houses were locked, but people were peeping from the corners of their homes and backyards, and ran deeper inside when they sight soldiers coming. The Kokori market had only few traders as we passed, while the few villagers that were seen outside watched suspiciously. They refused to answer questions but from their demeanour, they were not aware that Kelvin had been arrested.
As we drove round Kokori, Vanguard observed that youths, believed to be Kelvin’s boys, had suddenly laid a blockade. But for the intervention of soldiers, who were following our reporters behind, apparently to give them cover, it could have been an ugly encounter as Kokori boys were more often than not, antagonistic.
On sighting the soldiers, they fled in different directions with some soldiers in hot pursuit, while others dismantled the wooden barricade. About four persons, already arrested in connection with Kelvin, were lying on the floor in two of the Hilux vans driven by soldiers.
One of the arrested persons passed a message to somebody in his native dialect to tell his wife that it was unlikely that he would be released yesterday, and asked her to feed the chickens, but his wife, strapping a baby behind, was crying her eyes out, as she shadowed the soldiers.
Hostile disposition
Vanguard overheard an elderly woman telling a fellow villager that when Kelvin came the other day, the people trooped out to dance with him, but today, soldiers have come to the community because of the trouble of one man and everybody was feeling the pain. It was palpable from the hostile disposition of the youths that there could be crossfire with the soldiers, who were unhappy that “civilians” were barricading a major road when they knew the army was in town on ‘internal operation.”
Crossfire: The delicate peace in the community snapped barely an hour later, as youths were said to have confronted soldiers for allegedly arresting the chief priest (Ose-Igba) of Kokori, said to have been the spiritual backbone of Kelvin and his gang. One person was said to have been initially injured in the cross-fire, just as the shrine was destroyed by a vigilance group.
As at 4.00 pm, it was not really clear what the situation in Kokori was, as some persons said the youths had gone on rampage, while security agents were destroying houses. But soldiers, who stormed Kokori community with over up to 10 Hilux patrol vans, were visibly in control as they patrolled the streets. A source called one of our reporters to say the army had embarked on mass arrest, but Vanguard counted five persons that were arrested, Wednesday morning, including the chief priest, who was picked up later.
Panic: At about 5.00 pm, a villager, who spoke to Vanguard from Kokori said, “The situation is now hazy, the enraged youths, who did not know that Kelvin had been arrested, engaged the soldiers. “As I speak to you now, it seems as if they have called for reinforced and there is apprehension everywhere, there is fear that they will demolish the community overnight because the boys have provoked them and I am packing some items to come to Warri,” he added.
The youths were said to have been angered by the destruction of the community’s shrine, which a source said was where Kelvin derived his myth. By Thursday morning, Vanguard received an unconfirmed report that about 12 persons were killed and eight others injured in the clash. A villager who spoke on phone, said, ‘What I can tell you is that there was heavy shooting and armoured tank had been deployed, but I am not aware of any death.”
Monarch’s palace deserted: In Kokori on Wednesday, the palace of the traditional ruler, His Royal Majesty, Ogurime-Rime, Ovie of Agbon kingdom, looked deserted. A source said Kelvin and his gang had made the palace uncomfortable for the king, who had been tortured and almost incapacitated by the gang, and so, he lives outside the community.
Police also in Kokori: At about 11.02 am, Vanguard sighted a police team from Isiokolo end, racing to Kokori, apparently to join forces with the soldiers, who have been on ground since Monday. The gangster, Kelvin and his exploits. Kelvin is a relatively unknown youth in Kokori, it is his criminal exploits that brought him to hideous limelight. The elders dread him, but there was nothing they could do to tame him. The youths adored him because he spent his blood loot on some of them. Police declared the suspect, said to possess a Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering and a former aide to a top politician in the state, wanted, last year, after series of kidnap and armed robbery operations, within and outside the state, were traced to him, but he remained hard to pin down.
DeltaState Police Commissioner, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, who confirmed Kelvin as the most notorious kidnapper in the state, in an interview with Vanguard, last year, expressed optimism then that he would be arrested shortly. Commissioner Aduba told Vanguard in the aforesaid interview that motorcyclists, popularly known as Okada riders in Kokori were on the payroll of Kelvin, as they tip him off whenever security agents enter the town to look for him.
Fear of Kelvin in Kokori: Investigations by Vanguard showed that Kelvin was feared in Kokori and his tribesmen could not dare to report him to security agents because of the fear that he would find out the informant and kill the person thereafter. Vanguard also gathered that sometime, months ago, at a meeting of the Ughelli monarch, HRM, Oharisi III, security agents and Kokori chiefs and leaders, the chairman of Delta State vigilance group, Mr. Monday Ohwosiri, alleged that Kelvin and his gang killed a soldier at Ekiugbo junction, December, last year. He predicted that Kokori community would not know peace until the people surrendered Kelvin to security agents. Kokori chiefs, who had earlier feigned ignorance of the criminal escapades of their son promised to consult elders of the community and act promptly.
Erratic criminal: In March, this year, Kelvin, suspected to be a drug addict, phoned the Commissioner of Police, pleading for amnesty, but 48 hours after the call, he ambushed and killed three officials of the Nigeria Prisons Service, NPS, Warri, with his gang.
Source: Vanguard
THERE was nervous serenity in Kokori, the country home of the most wanted kidnapper/armed robbery kingpin in DeltaState, Kelvin Oniarah, 24 hours after he was arrested, Wednesday, at a hotel in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, where he was taking cover with his comrades-in-arms.
The news of his arrest had not reached the troubled community as at 10.47 am on Wednesday, September 25, when Vanguard reporters visited the community, but there was trepidation everywhere. It was visibly etched on the faces of the people.
*Members of Liberation Movement of the Urhobo People,
LIMUP, led by Kelvin, in Kokori, Tuesday.
Internal operation
From his speech, it was overt the arrest was not done in the state, but a police officer claimed the arrest was made by the police in Rivers state, which was later found to be false. Our reporters in Port-Harcourt drew a dead end from the police in Rivers state, as senior officers contacted said they knew nothing about the arrest.
Siege to Kokori: Soldiers, who we later learnt, had been in the community since Monday on “internal operation”, laid siege to the community when we visited and it was not difficult to perceive that their presence was the reason for the edgy serenity. Some of the villagers began to flee the town, same day, suspecting that something ominous could happen with the heavy presence of soldiers in Kokori.
However, unlike Tuesday, September 17, when the villagers, both young and old, came out to dance and rejoice with Kelvin, who literally materialized from the moon, and issued a 60-day ultimatum the State and Federal Governments to develop the community or his group, Liberation Movement of the Urhobo People, LIMUP, would blow up oil facilities, the people were hiding in their houses on September 25
Stop and search: The soldiers stopped our reporters and ordered them to identify themselves. To the warm smile of our Regional Editor, one of the soldiers hollered, “Who is laughing with you, who are you and what are you doing here?” The crew disguised themselves into the town with the vehicle of staff photographer, Akpokona Omafuaire. He was asked to open the booth of the vehicle, while boss was ‘marched’ to the commander to explain their mission to Kokori.
The commander, who appeared quite friendly, was interrogating a pastor and his wife, who were new in town when our team arrived on what they know about Kelvin and his gang. He told our reporters after introduction, “We are on internal operation.” Vanguard broke the news of Kelvin’s arrest in Port-Harcourt to the commander and he said, “That lessens our job.” He later cleared the reporters to proceed on their fact-finding visit, but cautioned them to be careful and introduce themselves properly to “my men when they ask you any question.”
Lock and key
As we drove into the community, it was noticed that many of the houses were locked, but people were peeping from the corners of their homes and backyards, and ran deeper inside when they sight soldiers coming. The Kokori market had only few traders as we passed, while the few villagers that were seen outside watched suspiciously. They refused to answer questions but from their demeanour, they were not aware that Kelvin had been arrested.
As we drove round Kokori, Vanguard observed that youths, believed to be Kelvin’s boys, had suddenly laid a blockade. But for the intervention of soldiers, who were following our reporters behind, apparently to give them cover, it could have been an ugly encounter as Kokori boys were more often than not, antagonistic.
On sighting the soldiers, they fled in different directions with some soldiers in hot pursuit, while others dismantled the wooden barricade. About four persons, already arrested in connection with Kelvin, were lying on the floor in two of the Hilux vans driven by soldiers.
One of the arrested persons passed a message to somebody in his native dialect to tell his wife that it was unlikely that he would be released yesterday, and asked her to feed the chickens, but his wife, strapping a baby behind, was crying her eyes out, as she shadowed the soldiers.
Hostile disposition
Vanguard overheard an elderly woman telling a fellow villager that when Kelvin came the other day, the people trooped out to dance with him, but today, soldiers have come to the community because of the trouble of one man and everybody was feeling the pain. It was palpable from the hostile disposition of the youths that there could be crossfire with the soldiers, who were unhappy that “civilians” were barricading a major road when they knew the army was in town on ‘internal operation.”
Crossfire: The delicate peace in the community snapped barely an hour later, as youths were said to have confronted soldiers for allegedly arresting the chief priest (Ose-Igba) of Kokori, said to have been the spiritual backbone of Kelvin and his gang. One person was said to have been initially injured in the cross-fire, just as the shrine was destroyed by a vigilance group.
As at 4.00 pm, it was not really clear what the situation in Kokori was, as some persons said the youths had gone on rampage, while security agents were destroying houses. But soldiers, who stormed Kokori community with over up to 10 Hilux patrol vans, were visibly in control as they patrolled the streets. A source called one of our reporters to say the army had embarked on mass arrest, but Vanguard counted five persons that were arrested, Wednesday morning, including the chief priest, who was picked up later.
Panic: At about 5.00 pm, a villager, who spoke to Vanguard from Kokori said, “The situation is now hazy, the enraged youths, who did not know that Kelvin had been arrested, engaged the soldiers. “As I speak to you now, it seems as if they have called for reinforced and there is apprehension everywhere, there is fear that they will demolish the community overnight because the boys have provoked them and I am packing some items to come to Warri,” he added.
The youths were said to have been angered by the destruction of the community’s shrine, which a source said was where Kelvin derived his myth. By Thursday morning, Vanguard received an unconfirmed report that about 12 persons were killed and eight others injured in the clash. A villager who spoke on phone, said, ‘What I can tell you is that there was heavy shooting and armoured tank had been deployed, but I am not aware of any death.”
Monarch’s palace deserted: In Kokori on Wednesday, the palace of the traditional ruler, His Royal Majesty, Ogurime-Rime, Ovie of Agbon kingdom, looked deserted. A source said Kelvin and his gang had made the palace uncomfortable for the king, who had been tortured and almost incapacitated by the gang, and so, he lives outside the community.
Police also in Kokori: At about 11.02 am, Vanguard sighted a police team from Isiokolo end, racing to Kokori, apparently to join forces with the soldiers, who have been on ground since Monday. The gangster, Kelvin and his exploits. Kelvin is a relatively unknown youth in Kokori, it is his criminal exploits that brought him to hideous limelight. The elders dread him, but there was nothing they could do to tame him. The youths adored him because he spent his blood loot on some of them. Police declared the suspect, said to possess a Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering and a former aide to a top politician in the state, wanted, last year, after series of kidnap and armed robbery operations, within and outside the state, were traced to him, but he remained hard to pin down.
DeltaState Police Commissioner, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, who confirmed Kelvin as the most notorious kidnapper in the state, in an interview with Vanguard, last year, expressed optimism then that he would be arrested shortly. Commissioner Aduba told Vanguard in the aforesaid interview that motorcyclists, popularly known as Okada riders in Kokori were on the payroll of Kelvin, as they tip him off whenever security agents enter the town to look for him.
Fear of Kelvin in Kokori: Investigations by Vanguard showed that Kelvin was feared in Kokori and his tribesmen could not dare to report him to security agents because of the fear that he would find out the informant and kill the person thereafter. Vanguard also gathered that sometime, months ago, at a meeting of the Ughelli monarch, HRM, Oharisi III, security agents and Kokori chiefs and leaders, the chairman of Delta State vigilance group, Mr. Monday Ohwosiri, alleged that Kelvin and his gang killed a soldier at Ekiugbo junction, December, last year. He predicted that Kokori community would not know peace until the people surrendered Kelvin to security agents. Kokori chiefs, who had earlier feigned ignorance of the criminal escapades of their son promised to consult elders of the community and act promptly.
Erratic criminal: In March, this year, Kelvin, suspected to be a drug addict, phoned the Commissioner of Police, pleading for amnesty, but 48 hours after the call, he ambushed and killed three officials of the Nigeria Prisons Service, NPS, Warri, with his gang.
Source: Vanguard
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