Suspected killer of monarch arrested in Rivers

The Police in Rivers State have arrested a man identified as Da­vid John also known as Tito Boy for allegedly killing a monarch and an ex-com­missioner in Rivers State.
Tito Boy confessed to the alleged kidnap and killing of His Royal Highness (HRH) Edward Onwudewei, a tra­ditional ruler at Okporo Mini community, in Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The suspect, who is in his early 40s made the confes­sion before newsmen and the state Commissioner of Police, Zaki Ahmed, during the parade of about 70 sus­pects at the weekend, at the Police headquarters in Port Harcourt.
Ahmed had said that Tito Boy who claimed to hail from Omoku town, the headquarters of Ogba/Eg­bema/Ndoni Local Govern­ment Area, was arrested by the Anti-kidnapping Unit of the command, declaring the suspect confessed to his killing of a former commis­sioner and a traditional ruler in the state.
Ahmed said: “The Anti-Kidnapping Unit on a tip off, arrested one David John alias Tito Boy, who con­fessed to the kidnap of a civil commissioner in the state and a traditional ruler at Ok­poro Mini, one locally made Pistol and Pump Action were recovered from him.”
The suspect, who spoke with The AUTHORITY during his parade, confessed that he participated in the kidnap of the monarch but denied any involvement in the abduction of the former commissioner.
He said: “My name is David John, I am a native of Omoku. It is bad friends who landed me here. My friends lured me into kid­napping His Royal High­ness, Onwudewei. I partici­pated in planning his kidnap but did not join them to carry out the mission in his house.
“On the day of the inci­dent, when the boys got to the house of His Royal High­ness, they tried to take him away but he started dragging their gun and mistakenly, the boys shot him on his shoulder and when they no­ticed that he was wounded, they abandoned him and ran away.
“The next morning we heard that His Royal High­ness died as a result of the gun wound he sustained. But for the commissioner, I did not participate in his kidnap,” he said.
Similarly, 30 suspected cultists were arrested from different parts of the state by the police.