The Rivers State Police Command have shot dead a notorious kidnap gang leader nicknamed ‘Devil.’

The 35-year-old Devil, whose real name is Linus Lebari, was killed after his gang engaged the police in a gun duel during a raid on their hideout on Sunday.

WuzupNigeria reports that the command ’s outfit, ‘Operation Sting’, had killed another notorious kidnapper called “Lucifer”.

According to DSP Nnamdi Omoni, Rivers State Police Command’s spokesman, he was trailed to a criminal’s hideout in a forest at Okwale, on the boundary between Rivers and Abia States after a gun duel.

The spokesman said,

“The hoodlums on noticing irregular movements around their camp, started shooting randomly, but in a return fire from the Police, one of them was gunned down, who was later identified to be Linus Lebari from Tekon Sogho, the leader of the kidnapping gang responsible for all the attacks on the Ogoni axis of the East/West Road and whose gang has killed over 30 people in the two Local Government Areas of Khana and Gokana, after collecting ransom.”

Omoni added that two police officers sustained gunshot wounds and were currently responding to treatment, while one locally made pistol and some cartridges were recovered.

He assured that efforts were on to arrest other gang members who fled with gunshot wounds.