MEN of Joint Security Operatives in Rivers State have killed two brothers who were members of a notorious criminal gang in the state. The two brothers, Frank Teetilo and Godwin Teetilo were reportedly killed with two other members of the gang in Owerri, the Imo State capital. The gang said to be engaged in kidnapping, robbery and cultism, terrorised communities in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, and it’s environs for a long time and was consequently declared wanted by the military in the state, The Nation learnt.
The team comprising men of the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Police and the Department of State Services (DSS), on Thursday, reportedly trailed the criminals to a hotel in Owerri where they engaged in a gun battle which led to the death of the four. Other members of the gang killed by the joint security team include Joe Mba and Gift Paul. They were declared wanted by the Rivers State government for returning to crime after accepting the state government’s amnesty offer in 2015.
The deceased hoodlums were suspected to be among the criminals who ran from Rivers to Owerri after the death of Don Wanni and his brother. Mba, also known as Escape or Mba Boy was the leader of the “Termites Wing” of the Deygbam, an outlawed cult group in Ebubu Community in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State. The Deputy Commissioner of Police described the killing of the four kidnappers and cultists as a victory for all law abiding citizens in Nigeria. He said, “This is a victory for all law abiding citizens in this country. As far as we get corporation from everybody, we will be able to stem the tide of violent crimes in this country. “Some of them have been known to kidnap persons, collect ransom and still kill the persons. In one of their operations, a 70-year old man was killed and they still collected N500,000 before releasing the corpse. A staff of NNPC was equally killed after collecting N11 million ransom.”