Rivers State police Friday confirmed the death of notorious cult leader Gift Okpara a.k.a 2Baba after a four month man-hunt for the felon who is a prime suspect in the murder of Bako Angbashim, a divisional police officer in September 2023.
According to Rivers Commissioner of Police Tunji Disu the crime suspect who had a N100m bounty approved by governor Siminalayi Fubara, was killed following a raid in his hide by a joint security team.
“We decided to have an entrance into 2baba’s camp,” said CP Disu.
“We sought the help of our sister agencies, especially the Nigerian Air Force after we conducted a technical groundwork which I may not be able to disclose here.
“They told us our findings were doable, and they came in to do an airstrike. They helped us to soften the ground, after which we assaulted 2baba’s camp on February 17 to do a clearance. “We had a fierce battle with them. They sustained injuries and a lot of things were found, arms were recovered, and many other things.
“While they were escaping, they were destroying petroleum pipelines until they got to the Ibra side of Ahoada West. Some of them fell by the wayside as a result of their injuries.
“After 2baba died, his gang members went away with the body, moving from one place to the other evading arrest. Finally, we were able to keep the place surrounded, and they were not able to escape with his body.
“Then they took his body further into the forest of Ibras, dug a shallow grave, and put him there. It took us time to locate the place. He was found in the grave, and finally, around seven in the evening of Thursday, we found the place. No grass on it.
“They put some bottles of alcohol on it, probably they used them for rituals, alongside an Army camouflage, making it very easy for us to eventually identify the place. It took us more than one hour to access the place, and over another hour to come out of the place.”
He added that governor Fubara had been notified of the development and has promised to pay out the N100M bounty to the raiding team.
“I have spoken with the governor and he assured me that the ₦100m bounty will be made available to people who took part in the operations,” he said.
Arms recovered from the camp include one AK47 rifle, one G3 rifle, one scorpion rifle, one double barrel locally made gun, and two locally-made pistols, One cut-to-size double barrel gun, one bulletproof vest, 13 pieces of dynamites, five rounds of .9mm live ammunition, 10 Army camouflage, 11 assorted charms, one human skull and one jack-knife.
