We were offered N2m to assassinate Delta State politician —suspect

Operatives of the Force Intelligence Response Team, IRT, have arrested six members of Ice-lander confraternity for attempting to assassinate a Delta State politician and businessman, Hon. Sunday Nwakego Okeke.

It was gathered that the suspects, Shedrack Neburagho, Onyema Wire, Onyekachi Amadi, Onyekachi Amadi, Alanko Suloko and Sunday Okoro, also known as G1, were rounded up in Sapele area of Delta State, when operatives of the IRT got wind of their plots.

Sources disclosed to Vanguard that the ringleader, G1, who is said to be a community youth leader in Sapele and has been active in most of the actions leading to community unrest within the area, was said to have recruited five of his cult members from Sapele, Delta State, Port Harcourt, Rivers State and Yenagoa, Bayelsa State with the aim of assassinating Hon. Nwakego, who he considered to be his rival.

It was alleged that G1 brought in two AK47 rifles and a pistol for the operation and he also offered to pay the assassins the sum of N2million and kept them in his hotel, from where they monitored Hon. Nwakego’s movements.

He was also alleged to have led the assassins to the politician’s house and his place of business, where they had planned to attack him. They were said to have ruled out attacking him on the road, because he moves around with police escort.

Police sources disclosed further that G1’s plot failed, when one of the suspects, Shedrack Neburagho, who is familiar with Hon. Nwakego, informed him about the plot to kill him and he quickly alerted operatives of the IRT who got G1 and other members of his gang arrested.

On how he got involved, 35-year-old, Shedrack Neburagho, said; I am from Sapele of Delta State and Hon. Sunday Nwakego Okeke, he is a businessman and a boss to my elder brother, Sunday Okoro who is popularly known as G-1, who has a hotel in Sapele is my friend.

Sometime in July 2020, G1 invited me to join him on a trip to Bayelsa State and when we got there we met one Master, who G1, had a conversation with and he linked us to one Onyema Wire, who he told to get some boys for him that he wanted to deal with Sunday Nwakego because he is a bad influence to him and he is collecting all the contracts that were supposed to come to him.

Before then G-1 had killed one of my elder brother’s bosses known as Bore and it affected my brother and the situation wasn’t too good for my brother. Then G-1 cut me off the plan but Onyema kept on telling me what was going on. When the plan was getting to advance stage, I was informed that G1 had brought in two Ak47 and one pistol and the arms were serviced in G1’s hotel, then they have also gone to Nwakego’s house to monitor him from a uncompleted building close to his house and they also went to his night club to monitor his movements at night. I quickly passed this information to Hon. Nwakego and he brought in the police and G1 and some of the boys he brought in to do the dirty job, were arrested. I was also arrested because G1 alleged after his arrest that I also have a gun which I am also using in terrorizing people in our community but that is a lie. He said so because he is not happy that I gave out information about his plan to Kill Hon. Nwakego. .

On his part, Onyema Wire, 36 years old, said G1, promised to pay him the sum of N2million also build him a house if he succeeded in killing Hon. Nwakego. I am from Emowa area of Rivers State and I met G1 through one of my friends known as Master.

I had my first contact with G1 in Rivers State and he told me about the deal to kill the politician and he promised to pay me N2million, build me a house and buy me a car if I assisted him in killing him. I came to Sapele but I changed my mind when I realized that G1 wasn’t trustworthy, but I was arrested before I could return to my base in Rivers State.

While Onyekachi Amadi, 29, a native of Ikwere Local Government Area of Rivers State said he joined team because G1 also promised to pay him the sum of N2million after the operation and also place him on a monthly salary. He said; “I am brikelayer but it was my brother that linked me to G1 and he told us that he wanted to me to assist him to kill a politician. He brought two Ak47 and one barrater pistol for me to service in his hotel and I serviced them and I also reduced the seize of one of the rifles. He promised to pay us N2million and also place us on a salary, the reason we couldn’t strike was because Hon. was also moving with the policemen. G1 showed me the man’s picture and he also took me to the man’s hotel.

It was Onyema that brought the police to arrest me and my friend and Alanko Suloko. We then took the police to arrest G1 and Blessing his boy. I can take the police to the hotel where we had all the plans”. he stated.

But Sunday Okoro, alias G1, when interviewed denied plotting to assassinate Hon. Nwakego alleging that the politician has been hunting his life for a long time. The 35-year-old, suspect who is married with 14 children stated that Hon. Nwakego is angry at him for no just cause. “ I didn’t plan to kill him and everything they said about me are all lies . I have been attacked by one Joseph in the past and Hon, Nwakego is always seen with that Joseph. He framed me of wanting to kill him and I don’t have such plans.”

When Vanguard interviewed, Hon. Sunny Okeke, Nwakego, he said he was lucky to be alive because he knew G1 to be a very deadly person alleging that G1 has caused the disappearance of some residents of their community. The 45-year-old politician who hails from Enugu State but was born in Sapele Delta State said; I have known G1 as a very trouble some person, who has caused several havoc in our community and I have been trying to caution him through his elder brother.

I don’t know if that was what might have gotten him angry with me. I am the National President of Supportive Youth for change and I have been trying to rehabilitate a lot of young people who have taken into crime, cultism and drug abuse in our area and isn’t going down well with G1 who is a member of Ice-lander cult group and my organization have been engaging youths against cultism and I think G1 isn’t please with what I have been doing and he started harassing me.

I wrote a petition against him to the police in Delta state against him because I knew his antecedent, he caused the disappearance of one Lucky Jedeje Ogenerepre, and Takaraye Ibila they have not been seen. He kidnapped them in public glare and took them away and nobody knows where they are and people are so scared to confront him about it. After alerting the police in Delta State about his harassment, because I was talking to the youths. G1 hurriedly went to Abuja to stop his arrest, I was invited and when we got there the police discovered that he was the person fermenting trouble and cautioned us and asked us to go back and live in peace.

Surprisingly I got information that he had recruited his fellow cultist from Bayelsa and Rivers State to assassinate me. I thought it was a joke until the police got boys arrested and they narrated how they have been monitoring my movement for a long time. I am grateful to God that I am alive. I don’t know what could have been said if they had succeeded. All I need now is justice.