The suspects

* CP Mukan commends his rare courage

By Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt

In Rivers State, Mr Tamuno Igbikiberebima, a lawyer, stands out as one of the most heroic in the history of how to survive kidnappings.

Igbikiberebima  narrated that he overpowered his abductors, Mr Godspower Saturday and David Simeon, because he noticed the obvious unprofessional way they handled the AK-47 rifle in their possession, while attempting to abduct him at his residence in Rumuigbo, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state of Rivers State on 17 December 2020.

According to him,haven noticed that the kidnappers were amateurs, he became encouraged to challenge them, saying that in the scuffle that ensued, the hoodlums were subdued, and they immediately abandoned him and fled before they were given a hot chase, and arrested by neighbours and passersby.

Igbikiberebima, a Lawyer and member of staff of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company,NNPC, disclosed this while speaking with journalists during a press briefing at the Rivers State Police Command Headquarters, Moscow Road, Port Harcourt.

He said that he was able to disarm the two-man kidnap gang of their AK-47 rifle because he believed God has given him the grace and wisdom to win battles over evil and it was a a case grabbing a chance as matter of life and death.

He said he mustered the courage to resist the kidnappers because he noticed the naïve way they were handling the rifle, and concluded that they were not trained on the handling of firearms.

He narrated: “I was making a call in front of my gate on December 17, 2020, when a black Toyota Camry suddenly pulled over with two occupants, and they ordered me to enter the vehicle.

“One of them came out with an AK-47 rifle and ordered me to enter the back seat. When he asked me to enter, I said ‘why should I enter’? He said he would  kill me. I begged him not to do that, and asked him what I had done.

“When I noticed how he was handling the gun, it appeared to me that he is not proficient in gun handling. I told myself that ‘ordinarily, one-on- one, this guy cannot beat me.’ That was the courage I had.

“When he faced the nozzle of the rifle down trying to cock the gun, I started struggling with him. In the process, both of us shot one bullet on the ground. When he saw a crowd coming, he left the rifle, and ran into the car, and they took off”, he stated.

“I then ran into my compound and brought out my Toyota Hilux, and some people outside my gate joined me to give them a hot chase. We overtook them at Apara Link Road, got them arrested, and handed them over to the police”, he explained.

He said  further that what gave him the courage to resist the hoodlums was because he thought that their intention was to kidnap or assassinate him.

“I thought well, it is better for me to die in front of my gate so as to be more honourable, instead of following them to wherever they wanted to take me to”, he stated.

In his remarks during the briefing, the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mukan said that his men were interrogating and investigating one Mr Godspower Saturday ‘m’ age 23yrs and David Simeon, the suspected kidnappers who attempted to abduct Barrister Tamuno Igbikiberebima on December 17, 2020 in his residence at Rumuigbo.

He explained that luck ran out of them as the victim displayed uncommon bravery by putting up strong resistance, whereupon he singlehandedly dispossessed one of the kidnappers of his AK-47 rifle, and was aided by passersby to arrest them.

The CP stated that the operatives of the command would ensure thorough investigation into the incident, and arraign the suspects in court to face justice.

Mukan assured the good people of the state that the police were in the state to protect their lives and property, adding that they were going to do “nothing more, nothing less and also protect the human rights.