Tag: cult

THE Rivers State Police Command yesterday paraded a notorious cult leader, Mitchel Tamuno, and two of his gang members, for alleged cult activities and kidnapping of a 14-year-old JS2 female student of a Unity School in the state.

The victim, (names withheld), was reportedly abducted on her way from an evening church service on April 14, 2016, around her Abuloma residence in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area of the state. She was later taken to Elimgbu Community in Obio/Akpor LGA of the state, where she was held for four days.

Her captors demanded a N10 million ransom from her father, who is a Pastor. The sum was yet to be raised when she escaped from the kidnappers’ den, and was taken to a nearby

Her abduction and escape led to the arrest of the criminal gang, which allegedly held sway within the Trans-Amadi and Abuloma areas of the state.

Parading the criminals, the Spokesman for the command, Ahmad Muhammad, a Deputy Superintendent of Police(DSP), said Tamuno, leader of the dreaded Iceland cult group and his members have long terrorised the area with their criminal activities, including kidnapping and collecting of huge ransom from  innocent residents,  including their own relatives.

He said one of the suspects, Godwin Pina, who was also revealed as the informant in several kidnap cases in the area, as well as the student’s, was arrested when he went to cash the sum of N50, 000 paid into their(kidnappers) account for the feeding and upkeep of their victim, pending when the ransom money would be raised and paid.

According to Muhammad, four AK-47 rifles and hundreds rounds of live ammunitions were recovered from them. He assured that peace and tranquility have returned to the area since the arrest of the criminals and residents could now sleep with their two eyes closed.

 He also disclosed that that, last month, the Police arrested 70 suspected kidnappers, cultists and armed robbers across the state. A total of 25 of them were killed in a shootout with the Police, and 11 AK 47 rifles, 17 other assorted firearms and 480 different live ammunition were recovered from the suspected criminals.

He assured that the suspects would be charged to court as soon as possible.

All the three suspects spoken to admitted the crime and expressed regrets for their negative lifestyle.

Earlier in the briefing, the Police spokesman said: “On April 14, 2016, a young girl of about 14 years, was kidnapped while she was on her way back from church and was taken to an uncompleted building in Elimgbu, Port Harcourt. Her captors kept her there for about four days while they were calling for ransom from her parents.

“While the kidnappers were fast asleep in the day time, the girl saw a ladder and used it to scale through the fence and escaped. She walked through the forest till she began to hear sound of vehicle and traced it to the road where she waved a vehicle to stop.

“The driver stopped and she told the driver that she escaped from kidnappers’ den and would want to contact her father, who is a pastor in Bayelsa State.

“The Good Samaritan called the victim’s father, who directed that she be taken to any nearby police station. Before then, the kidnappers had already called the victim’s parents, demanding N10 million ransom. They equally forwarded an account detail to the victim’s father.

“One of the kidnapers (Godwin Pina) went to the bank immediately he noticed that the sum of N50,000 had been paid into the account for the upkeep of their victim, pending when the ransom demanded would be raised. Before then, the police ensured that the account was blocked. He was arrested at the bank.

“When the suspect was arrested, he then opened up that their boss, Mitchel, was staying in Okrika. Then the Anti-kidnapping unit moved to Abam in Okrika and arrested Mitchel and 10 other boys in his house. Two AK 47 rifles were recovered from him. On interrogation, he (Mitchel) said he had other two AK 47 rifles with one Iyalla Appolos somewhere in Ozuboko area of Abuloma, in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area of the state. We moved in there and Iyalla was arrested and the two AK 47 rifles were recovered from him.

“Iyalla does not participate in kidnapping, but his task is to release the guns to the gang for operations. But whenever they embark on any successful operation and are back, they give him (Iyalla), part of the ransom.”

“Pina confessed that the kidnap gang also planned and executed a female oil mogul in the same Abuloma area and collected N9 million ransom.

“They also disclosed that Mitchel’s Toyota Camry was always used to move their kidnap victims, including one Chief Ajie from Abuloma and Pina’s Uncle’s wife. Pina gave information to kidnappers for his uncle’s wife to be kidnapped. N5 million was paid before she was released.” He said.

In an interview with newsmen, Pina,  a 23-year old labourer, said: “I am being held by the police because of the kidnapping crime I committed. I planned the kidnapping of a secondary school girl who lives around my Abuloma neighbourhood.

“After I had arranged the kidnap, my friends who are my gang members executed the plan while i stayed away so that the girl will not recognize me. Her elder sister was my girlfriend. I only monitored her movement and released the information to them on my handset telephone.

“They (my friends), took her away in a tricycle (keke), on her way from church to an uncompleted building at Elimgbu area of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state.

“Although I never showed up at the place she was kept, but I was constantly in touch with them through phone conversations. I told them to ensure they keep my share of the expected N2 million ransom.

“I dropped out of school in Senior Secondary 2, (SS 2) because I had no sponsor.  I am a product of single parenting; my parents are no longer together, I was raised by my mother in a batcher (makeshift), house, while my father got married to another woman, so I started to struggle on my own early in life.”

Pina also explained how his criminal gang was formed, “I am a member of Iceland cult group, which Mitchel Tamuno, one of the suspects paraded leads. I met my friends in that cult group. I do both cultism and kidnapping.

“Mitchel is the number one man in the Iceland game. His territory stretched between trans-Amadi and Abuloma axis. He is the one in charge of the area and is accountable for all of our activities in these areas. He is the first person to get information of every cult related activity in the area and then inform us. He was aware of all the kidnappings we carried out and he receives a share of the ransom from any that went successfully.

“I do not hold any post in the group. I am only a ‘boy’ in the group. My friends have not yet been arrested. They are three in number. We are four in the gang. After the victim’s escape, they called and informed me on phone. The names of my friends are Bobo me, Francis and Collins.”

My arrest

“I was arrested in a bank where I went to withdraw the N50, 000 we asked the victim’s family to pay for her feeding before they will pay the ransom money.

“As at the time I went to withdraw the cash, i did not know that the victim had escaped from the place she was kept.”

The suspect also confessed to other kidnappings his gang carried out. “Apart from this my neighbour, my gang was also responsible for the kidnap of one female illegal oil bunkerer and a Chief in Abuloma. Bbut I was not directly involved in those kidnapping activities. It was my friends that planned and executed it. But they told me about it.

 “The victim was not my girlfriend, but her elder sister was. It was because i did not want her killed after ransom had been paid that I stayed away from the picture, so she would not identify and report me to the police.”

The cult leader, Tamuno, who is a 27 years old fish farmer from Okrika Local Government Area of the state, admitted to all that was alleged against him and regretted his criminal lifestyle.

He described his involvement in criminality as a “big disgrace” to his family. He appealed for forgiveness and asked the government to grant him another chance, stressing that he was ready to repent from his negative lifestyle and turn a new leaf.

Narrating his experience, he said, “I was in the house before my ‘boy’ CC, ( Iyalla Appolos) came with policemen and arrested me. It was when I got to the police station that I was told that he (CC), and other boys went kidnapped somebody in my area and members of the vigilante group on duty caught them and identified him (CC), as one of my boys. I am a cultist and leader of the Iceland cult group. CC is actually a member of my cult group.”

Asked why cultists kill innocent people, including none-cultists, he said, “In my Iceland group, we do not shade innocent blood, we don’t kill innocent people. We only kill those that come to kill us in defence of our lives.

The leader identified the four AK47 rifles displayed at the scene of the parade as belonging to his cult group. “These four AK47 displayed here belong to our cult group. We bought them from one Mr. Ifeanyi from Aba in Abia State at the rate of N250, 000 and N280, 000, but it has been a long time we acquired them.

Asked what they use the guns for, he said, “We use them for our cult activities and to fight members of the Greenland cult groups. They are our opponents and we always fight over who dominates the territory. Apart from these four guns, my group has no other guns.”

The leader denied the involvement of his group in the recent cruel practice by cultists in the state to kill and either burn the remains of their victims or chop off their heads, but believed that those that do such are doing it to cause more pains on their rival cult members.

On the number of persons he has killed since he joined the group in 2006, he said: “I do not know how many of our opponents I have killed because we fight once in a while. We fight and kill each other only when we have information against them, and they also come after us whenever they got information against us. It will be difficult to know the number of persons that died in the fights.

“If I am released now, I will renounce cultism and concentrate on my fish farm business. I am a fish farmer.”.

He also gave insight into the cause of the incessant cult wars in the state. “We fight mostly when our rival cult members attack and kill our own member(s). When such happens, we will do everything possible to fight back and kill them to cause them more pains than they caused us. Then they will also fight back and so on.

 “At this point, all that is paramount to us is to defend our members and our cult group. All appeal to any of the fighting group to stay reprisal attack will fail on deaf ear, especially when the victim is someone very close to the leaders’ heart.”

The cult leader, who is a father of one, said he regretted his actions and noted that his involvement in cultism is a big disgrace to his family, but did not tell us how prominent his family is in the state and his Okrika native home. Tamuno is a common name in Okrika.

Also interviewed was the group’s Armourer Apollos  Iyalla, who denied being a cult member. He, however confessed to be the keeper of the gang’s guns.

Iyalla, an undergraduate of Marine Engineering, from the Metropolitan University, said  Tamuno is his cousin and childhood friend. He claimed that it was for this reason that he accepted to keep the guns for the group, but not as their member.

 “I believe that I am not a cultist. I was arrested by the police because I happen to be in possession of two of these firearms displayed.

“Mitchel is my cousin and he gave me the guns to keep for him and I accepted to keep them for him, even after knowing what they do with them. I did it because of my relationship and closeness with him and also for fear of the unknown.”