Army, Police In Serious Manhunt For Kidnap Kingpin With A PhD

Following the spate of killing of security operatives in Delta State, the police and army are now in a serious manhunt for Kevin, the most wanted kidnap/robbery kingpin in Delta State, who hails from Kokori community in Ethiope East Local Government Area, who has now gone into hiding.

The suspect said to possess a Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering and also a former aide to a top politician in the state was declared wanted by the police last year after series of kidnap and armed robbery operations, within and outside the state, were traced to him, but his arrest had so far been elusive.

Confirming the development, Delta State Police Commissioner, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba said Kelvin was the most notorious kidnapper in the state, while expressing optimism he will soon be nabbed.

The notorious kidnapper however shocked security operatives last month when he pulled a daring mission in Warri, killing a number of prisons officials, as his gang ambushed warders and snatched two of its men being taken to court for trial. A lecturer of Petroleum Training Institute was also killed.

Soldiers laid siege to Kokori and other communities in Ethiope East Local Government Area in search of Kelvin in the past few weeks after he reportedly killed some soldiers.

The state government has also put up security measures to stem the high level of criminality in Ethiope East, by placing a ban on the use of motorcycles in the area, two days ago, as riders were said to be on his payroll, and they informed him whenever security operatives came around to look for him.

Briefing reporters on Wednesday, Secretary to the State Government, Comrade Ovouzuorie Macaulay, said the ban was with immediate effect in Kokori.

The government, however, gave a seven-day grace, after which the ban would be extended to the other towns and villages in Ethiope East.

Comrade Macaulay stated that the high level of crime in the area had taken a dangerous dimension, and the ban was one of the measures meant to stem the tide.

A security source told Vanguard that the people of the community had not been cooperating with security agents for fear of being attacked by Kevin for volunteering information.

“The thing is that there was no concrete evidence in some of the criminal activities he had been arrested for in the past and he found his way out, but by the time he grew into kidnap/armed robbery baron, he has graduated and it is very difficult to get him,” the source said.

“They are looking for him but I do not think they have his photograph, so how will they find him when people are afraid to point at him. He could even pass them as they are looking for him. For instance, he is known to be staying in a hotel in Effurun and Lagos before this time, but some of these hotels do not keep manifest of lodgers,” he said.