Update: Six injured as gunmen invade court, free kidnap suspect
A kidnap suspect was, on Friday, whisked away from court premises by gunmen believed to be members of a notorious kidnap and armed robbery.
Henry Chibueze, also known as Vampire, was facing charges on kidnapping and had only been taken into the Owerri High Court alongside others, before the gunmen ran rampage.
About six bandits, armed with sophisticated arms and weapons, reportedly invaded the premises and escaped with Chibueze after a shootout with security operatives.
Over six persons reportedly sustained injuries in the attack.
The State Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Prisons Service, Mr. Maduba James, narrated that “We were in the office this morning when we got a distress call that some gunmen were in the court premises, we thought they were DSS officials because by then we were conveying over 50 in-mates to the state High Court for hearing.
“However, the gunmen attacked some of our men and some of the in-mates. They were critically injured and have been taking to the hospital.
“Nevertheless, one of the in-mates who we know as Vampire is at large presently but my Comptroller and other security operatives in the state are on top of the situation.”
The State Commissioner of Police, Taiwo Lakanu, said he was dressing up to go to work when he heard the sound gun shots.
“As the court is adjacent to my residence, I quickly moved all the policemen in my compound and we moved to rescue the situation. The hot chase led to the arrest of some suspects,” he said.
