Police arrest kidnap suspect, recover remains of victim in Rivers forest

From Tony John, Port Harcourt

Rivers State Police Command has arrested Goodnews Iberi, a 26-year-old native of Rumuakunde community in Emohua Local Government Area, in connection with the kidnapping and murder of 25-year-old Rita Eleonu from Rumuekini community in Obio Akpor Local Government Area of the state.

State Police Public Relations (PPRO), Grace Iringe-Koko, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), who disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, said the arrest followed a distress report on December 29, 2025, by the victim’s brother (name withheld).

The statement recalled that on December 13, 2025, the suspect and four of his accomplices, currently at large, lured Rita to Rumuakunde axis in Emohua Local Government Area, where she was kidnapped and later taken to an evil forest along the East/West Road in Emohua.

She disclosed: “The suspects, after collecting ₦210,000 in ransom from the victim’s family, murdered her.

“Acting on this distressing, but credible piece of information, operatives of the command attached to the Anti-Cultism Unit, Emohua annex, arrested Iberi on January 8, 2026, at about 0630hrs. in his hideout,” the statement added.

According to her, it was during preliminary interrogation, that the suspect voluntarily confessed to the crime, highlighting his role and further incriminating four other accomplices.

The statement added that the suspect led police operatives to where the victim’s decomposing remains were recovered from the forest and deposited at the University of Port-Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) morgue for autopsy.

Meanwhile, the suspect is currently in police custody while an in-depth investigation has been launched, with efforts intensified to apprehend other fleeing members of his syndicate.