The Rivers State Police Command yesterday paraded one Gracious David West who is said to be behind the serial killing of young girls in Port Harcourt.
Parading the man at the state Police Command headquarters, the Commissioner of Police, Mustapha Dandaura, expressed happiness that barely three days after he addressed the media on the rising cases of killings in hotels in the state and the measures put in place by the command to check it, the man was arrested.
He told reporters that he was arrested in a commercial bus as he tried to escape to Akwa Ibom State.
He said Gracious David West confessed carrying out five killings in Port Harcourt, one in Owerri and another in Lagos, adding that he was about to leave the state when was apprehended by operatives of the special anti robbery squad.
“The Rivers State police command is indeed elated with this achievement but this did not come as a surprise, it would be recalled that on my assumption of duty as the Commissioner of Police three months ago, I made a pledge to the good people of the state that I was here with the clear mandate to fight crime and criminality head on and bring same to the barest minimum, I will not be deterred and I will continue to deliver quality policing services to the state hence I call on all stakeholders to join the new police team to take the state to the new level”, he said.
He said his team had intensified patrols in East- west, Elele /Owerri and Khana-Gokana roads and called for collective responsibility in tackling crime across the state.
Gracious David West who hails from Asari-toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, confessed carrying out the killings and blamed the devil for his actions.
Before the arrest, victims were lured to hotels, drugged and stranggled to death.
In less than two months, 10 innocent girls had fallen victim of this act, which has left residents of Port Harcourt and the entire Rivers State worried and concerned.
A young lady was however rescued on Wednesday from being strangled to death by a suspected ritualist in a hotel in Mile 4 area of Port Harcourt.
An account had it that the lady, whose name and identity were not disclosed for security reasons, was said to have struggled with the young man who attempted to suffocate her with a pillow while she slept off.
Confirming the story while addressing angry women protesters in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, Rivers State Police Commissioner, Mr. Mustapha Dandaura, said the woman raised an alarm when the man became violent and struggled with her as she made her way to the door for possible escape.
He said the suspected killer was arrested by his men when they got to the hotel, noting that a thorough investigation had commenced on the matter.
The lack of adequate security in most hotels in the city has made it very difficult for the police to track down the perpetrators of this murderous act.
The commissioner also said the state Police Command has busted the syndicate behind the dastardly act with the arrest of two suspects.
The ugly incident started in August when the lifeless body of a young lady was discovered by a cleaner in a hotel located at D-Line area of Port Harcourt. The deceased, a mother of one, was said to have checked into the hotel with a man the previous night only for her remains to be discovered during the regular cleaning of hotel rooms. The discovery attracted the attention of the hotel management who immediately invited the police.
Rivers State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Nnamdi Omoni, said after the corpse was evacuated the killer left very huge traces that will assist the police to track him down in no distant time.
Shortly after the incident, another young lady was strangled in another hotel located at Stadium Road. The remains of the victim bear a semblance of the same method of killing. Her neck and legs were tied with white handkerchief. Again, the police moved in and evacuated the corpse and promised to apprehend the perpetrator.
Another victim was hacked down in another hotel in Aggrey Road in old Port Harcourt Township. The victim’s body was doused with acid. Then followed another incident at a popular hotel located at Peter Odili Road. The victims were two females said to be waiters in the hotel. Their lifeless bodies were discovered in the morning.
The killing moved to Omoku in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area where a young lady was killed in the same manner.
The latest in the series of killings took place last Sunday at a motel located at the Rumola Junction of Port Harcourt. The victim’s lifeless body was discovered in the morning with a white handkerchief tied around her neck.
The incident elicited angry protest from young ladies who picketed the motel and demanded that it should be shut down until the killers were arrested.
The protesters, numbering about 14, displayed placards which bore inscriptions such as ‘shut down until further notice’, ‘you are responsible for your guest’, ‘beef up security’, ‘have full details of your guests’, had demanded the immediate arrest of those behind the killings.
The leader of the protesters, Soibi Ibibo Jack, had said “There is a serial killer on the loose in Rivers State. We want to go out and return home without fear. We acknowledge the police for what they are doing, but we urge them to do more so that the killer is arrested, tried and made to face the full weight of the law,”
Responding to the protesters, the Rivers State Police commissioner represented by DCP Chuks Enwonwu said the police were working with other security agencies to secure the lives of women and other residents.
He said: “The police are mostly concerned about these serial killings and we have arrested suspects, and investigation is ongoing and if they are found guilty, the long arm of the law will take its course.
“We will do our best to make sure that this evil stops. We have sent message across to all business places especially the hotels to have full data of the customers who want to lodge, so that they could give account if anything happens. We are not saying that they should install CCTV cameras in their rooms; that is invading people’s privacy.”
Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Dandaura, at a press briefing in Port Harcourt on Tuesday expressed worry over what he described as the mindless killings in hotels in the state; a development he said is giving the State Police Command a serious concern.
He said “The command condemns in the strongest terms, these serial killings, hence we call on all people of good will to rise to the occasion and join the police as we kick out these monsters.
It would be recalled that in the wake of this attack, and bothered by the development in Port Harcourt, I summoned all hotel owners under the aegis of Nigerian Hotels Association.
Being the Umbrella body) where we had an interface and I underscored the need for synergy between hotels and law enforcement agencies.
“Guided by that, I came up with a strong directive to the executive members of the association to prevail on their members to install Circuit Camera Television (CCTV) in all hotels, guest houses and motels across the state and gave them an ultimatum of one month within which to do so or face sanction.
“Consequently, a taskforce was constituted for that purpose with the clear mandate to enforce the directive and bring defaulting hotels to book, including sealing same for compounding felony,” he said.
He regretted that some hotels are yet to comply with the new directive, saying that he has ordered the arrest of the manager, receptionist and desk officers in the two hotels where two separate murders were recorded. He said the suspects will be investigated and if found culpable, charged for culpable homicide.
In the meantime, women comprising members of Rotary Club of Port Harcourt South, the National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) and 73 other women groups on Wednesday staged a peaceful protest against killing of innocent women in Port Harcourt.
The protest, which started at the Ernest Ikoli Press Centre, the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Port Harcourt, moved to Government House Port Harcourt and later to the office of the Department of State Services (DSS) as well as the headquarters of the Rivers State Police Command.
At the Government House, the protesters presented a copy of their petition to the Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), Dr. Tammy Danagogo, who received them on behalf of Governor Nyesom Wike and promised to convey their message to the governor.
Presenting the petition, President of Rotary Club of Port Harcourt South, Rita-Marley Idonoh, said women in the state are worried over the killings.
Idonoh called on security agencies in the state to step up their operations and ensure that the perpetrators of the act were arrested.
She demanded for a public apology from the Rivers State Police Command for referring to the young women killed by the serial killers in the state as prostitutes.
