Chidi Samuel
A notorious criminal suspect, Chibueze Henry, aka, Vampire, standing trial at the Owerri High Court for crimes that include kidnapping, has been forcefully freed by suspected criminal gang that attacked security operatives that escorted him to court . The heavily armed gang escaped with the suspect after a shootout with security operatives.
The attack left several persons wounded and about eight other inmates were believed to have also escaped.
According to eyewitness account, the gunmen numbering about six found their way into the court premises shortly after over 50 inmates arrived the court premises and opened fire on the security operatives and inmates at the court premises shooting sporadically into the air for more than ten minutes before whisking away Henry Chibueze,aka Vampire.
He said, “We were here in the court premises when a lawyer came to call us to enter room three for hearing. Shortly after that we started hearing sporadic gunshots. About six gunmen entered the court and started shooting. Some people were even wounded. They came with a Jeep and eventually they whisked away one of the inmates who the prisons officials brought to the court for hearing. The gunshot lasted over 10 minutes.”
The Imo State Command of the Nigeria Police Force has confirmed the incident. Maduba James, the command spokesman, said the suspect, Chibueze, also known as Vampire was presently at large but the the command was on top of the situation. He also confirmed that five people were injured by the attackers.
According to him, “We were in the office this morning when we got a call that some gunmen were in the court premises. We thought they were DSS officials because by then we were conveying over 50 inmates to the state High Court for hearing.
“However, the gunmen attacked some of our men and some of the inmates. They are critically injured now and have been taken to a hospital.
“Meanwhile, one of the inmates, who we know as Vampire, is at large presently but my controller and other security operatives are on top of the situation”.
Meanwhile, Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha has promised a reward of N5m to anybody that will provide information that will lead to the arrest of the dangerous criminal who was arrested in July 2015.