The End Of A Man Who Killed n Kidnapped Over 200 People: Vampire!!!!!!!!

Vampire, who had terrorized Imo State and other parts of the country for long periods, was earlier rescued by some gunmen who stormed Owerri High Court, Imo State, shooting indiscriminately.

While Nigerians are still celebrating the demise of dreaded kidnap kingpin and notorious armed robbery chief, Henry Chibueze popularly called Vampire, little is known about the circumstances that led to his end.

The commando-like operation took security men at the court including prison officials who accompanied him to the day’s hearing of his case, by surprise.

At the end of the barely 15 minute operation, two persons were shot dead while scores of others including security men, received gunshot wounds.

The high profile criminal who had kidnapped and killed 200 persons across the country, responded quickly to the invasion by his men who handed an AK47 assault rifle to him and he displayed what he knew how to do best after which he disappeared with his deadly gang into thin air. After the operation, a red alert was raised in all police formations in the country and beyond. This was as a result of Vampire’s known bloody operations in the past, especially in February 2013 when the dreaded kidnapper stormed two homes in Igando area of Lagos State and killed nine persons, including his girlfriend, her pregnant sisters and their children, in cold-blood.  

Energetic crime buster  

The energetic crime buster who now heads Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team, IRS, Abba Kyari, was the officer-in-charge of Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, Ikeja at the time. He was one of the first men to race to the scene after the police received a distress call on the incident.

The sight of lifeless bodies of the children, their pregnant mothers drenched in own blood, traumatized him and he may have vowed to track down the person that spilled the blood of innocent children and their pregnant mothers in such a manner. Luckily, few months after, some members of Vampire’s gang who masterminded the kidnap of a British national, Dickson Lee, at Mafoluku axis of the Airport Road, Ikeja, Lagos were arrested.

They volunteered information indicating that Vampire was then residing with his family in Ivory Coast but that he usually sneaked into the country,  to carry out some kidnapping and then  sneaked out again. With the arrest and killing of several members of his gang, the police in Lagos concluded that Vampire has been degraded and frustrated, but unknown to them, Vampire was still active, unleashing terror in Imo and other South East States.

At that time, he was said to have kidnapped and killed several persons, including wife of a traditional ruler, member of Imo State House of Assembly, three of his uncles at his home town in Agba area of Imo State, businessmen and several others. But in July 2015, he ran out of luck as men of the Department of State Service, DSS, apprehended him while he attempted to kidnap some Judges attached to the Imo State Electoral Tribunal.

He was remanded at the Owerri Central Prison, from where he also coordinated several kidnappings and gave out his numerous rifles for hire to criminals. Sources at the prison disclosed that Vampire lived like a king in the prison. He reportedly had free access to his mobile phones and enjoyed regular visits from various persons including his gang members who brought food and money to him.

In November 2015, he successfully recruited an official of the Nigeria Prison Service, NPS, Chukwuma Agim, into his gang and made him set up a kidnap gang that would enable them raise money for their cases. Agim and four others were later arrested by operatives of the IRT in Owerri and remanded in prison custody. He claimed that they kidnapped a woman and that she paid N5 million before her release.

According to Agim, N1.5 million was given to a Vampire who was their overall boss and owner of the rifles that were used for the operation. Five days after Vampire’s rescue inside Owerri High court, the visibly traumatized Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, reportedly summoned members of Abba Kyari’s team with marching orders to fish him out within 48 hours or face disciplinary action.

The fact that Vampire confessed to having killed 200 people in various operations across the country rattled the police hierarchy even more. A roll call of his victims still remains a shocker to security agents in the country in spite of his death. He claimed responsibility for the murder of the following persons: Placid Ejimadu (Nze Ji Obi), Jonathan Ibemere, aka Gwogwuo and Livinus Iwumune all natives of Agbaja, Nwangele Local Government in Imo. He also killed a member of the Imo State House of Assembly at Orji in 2015, and murdered the wife of the traditional ruler of Mbaise in 2015.

The woman’s corpse had not been seen till date. Others were the kidnap and murder of a man from Malaysia at First Bank, World Bank area, Owerri, and killing of three members of a family, including a woman from Nkwere in 2012 after collecting ransom from the family.  

How the Malaysian returnee met his death 

On January, 26, 2015, a Malaysian based businessman, Sopuruchukwu Igweanyiba, was kidnapped by Vampire when he accosted him in a car wash located around World Bank area of Owerri, Imo State. 

A brother to the businessman told Crime Alert that Vampire sighted his brother’s Range Rover SUV at the popular car wash and demanded to see the owner.

“The people operating the car wash didn’t know who he was and they ignorantly called my brother and told him someone was looking for him. He ordered my brother into his own vehicle with a gun and took him away.

That was on a Sunday and he didn’t contact us for ransom until Wednesday when he demanded for N100 million. “We begged him that we don’t have such an amount and he reduced it to N50 million. We begged again and he reduced it to N30 million and later, stopped at N20 million. We told him that all we could raise was N5 million and he refused.  After several pleadings, he told us that if we fail to pay the money, it will be the last time we will hear from him.

My brother was the only person in his camp, but he took my brother to Ugwuoji area of Mbaitolu Local Government Area of the State and shot him seven times. He dumped him inside a gutter and left him to die. That was around 8.00pm. Few hours later, my brother saw a security man and begged him to take him to hospital.  The security man was scared and he went and called the Police who later took my brother to the hospital. 

My brother was in the hospital for three weeks and died on February 23, 2015 from his wounds.” Police team swings into action: Crime Alert learned that based on these startling revelations, the team swung into action and succeeded in arresting five members of his gang namely, Obinna Elah, 26, from Orlu and Vampire’s second in command, Arinze Abecheta, 24, from Okohia, Isiala Mbano Local Government and Chukwuebuka Ikeazota, 23, and Samuel Ugochukwu, 24, both from Arochukwu in Abia, the sixth suspect, and the fifth caught alive, was Clifford Aheana from Omu Awa in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers.

Police said they recovered five AK 47 rifles and an AK 47 magazine containing 300 rounds of ammunition from the gang, while charms were also recovered from the body of Vampire who was killed during the operation. The gang members were arrested by 1.00 a.m on Thursday, March 2, 2017 after a gun battle at Omu Awa forest in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers.

The Police Special Forces working under the supervision of the Commissioner of Police, Imo State Police Command, swooped on the hideout of Henry Chibueze aka ‘Vampire’ and his gang and engaged them in a fierce gun battle that lasted several hours. This operation was successfully carried out as the dreaded Vampire, died during the shootout with the Police Special Forces while all the other suspects were arrested and exhibits recovered from them.

Meanwhile, Owerri was thrown into celebration when news of the death of Vampire spread into town as people thronged the Police Command Headquarters to have a glimpse of the corpse of a man who had brought death, sorrow, pain and agony to their lives. They waited patiently until the IRT operatives who brought in Vampire’s remains from Rivers State, arrived the Headquarters. Rounds of gunfire were shot in celebration as the operatives arrived and the leader of the team, Abba Kyari, was immediately lifted off his feet by his men the moment he was spotted. The operatives then took the corpse round Imo State to reassure the residents that the police is determined to ensure they have a safe society.