IRT operatives have reportedly apprehended one of the leaders of Port Harcourt's notorious gangs, The Islanders.
The suspect identified as Saturday Jackson is reported to have led the gang on various kidnapping and cult-related killings in Rivers state and other surrounding cities.
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Saturday Punch
reports that Jackson was apprehended by the IRT at Abuah area of Port
Harcourt and a locally made rifle and a pump-action gun were recovered
from him.
A police source told Punch correspondents that the IRT had been receiving several complaints of the violent activities the gang were involved in and that they had become a source of worry to the Rivers State Government.
The Islanders are also reported to be locked in a battle for supremacy with a rival gang known as the Greenlanders.
The source said, “His
boys have coordinated several armed robberies around the state. Acting
on information about him, we were able to piece together a strategy that
allowed us to track him down and arrest him."
In the course of the interrogation, Jackson explained that his gang operated with two pump-action rifles and two Dane guns.
“Our
main activity was kidnapping. We kidnapped two people in February, Mr
Solo and Mr Barrister. They are both from Abuah. Solo paid N200,000 as
ransom while Barrister paid N500,000.
“Before
we became kidnappers, we were actually vigilantes. I was employed by
one of the men we kidnapped in February but when he refused to pay my
boys and me, we kidnapped him.”
Punch
reports that Jackson and the members of his recently availed themselves
of the amnesty programme set up by the Rivers state Governor, Nyesom Wike.
Jackson,
however, denied killing anyone during his operations with his gang but
explained that he and his men have always been at war with the
Greenlanders.
The IRT Commander, Mr Nyesom Wike said that efforts are still being made to track down the other gang members who are currently at large.
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