A retired military officer has reportedly died after his abductors sniffed life out of him in Rivers state.
The decomposed remains of the deceased were found on Tuesday in a forest within a new layout in Igbo Etche in Etche local government area of Rivers State where the victim was killed.
The 64-year-old retired officer identified as Captain Godfrey Zalamac was abducted in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers in September and killed by his abductors after they demanded a N200 million ransom from his family.
Three suspects arrested in connection with the abduction led a team of police officers, including the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, CP Friday Eboka and military personnel to the crime scene.
Addressing journalists at the scene where the corpse was recovered, Eboka said the incident occurred on 18th September 2021 but was not reported to the police immediately.
The CP said the police swung into action and through intelligence, arrested three suspects identified as Frank Ishie, Iwuji Reginald, and Gomba Okparaji.
According to him, “although the police were not informed about the kidnap, the suspects were arrested a few weeks after the abduction was reported to the Command”.
“During our investigation, we arrested these three people who brought us to this place where they dumped his body”.
He noted that the victim who hailed from Benue State was abducted around Agboncha in Eleme Local Government and brought to the forest.
He further advised members of the public to always report cases of kidnap and other forms of insecurity to enable the police act promptly.
One of the suspects, Ishie, who confessed to the crime, told journalists that the victim was shot in the leg when he refused to follow them to their den.
Ishie revealed that the retiree bled to death while his remains were dropped off at the new layout off Igbo-Etche road.
The suspect, who also confessed to being involved in four different kidnap operations, said that their victims were kept at their hideout at Igbo-Etche before ransoms were paid.
Meanwhile, the remains of the captain have been handed over to his family for burial.
