On Wednesday, September 18, Delta State’s most wanted criminal, Kelvin Ibruvwe, made a surprise return to his Kokori hometown in Ethiope East Local Government Area. It marked the beginning of his end. Shola O’neil and Aiwerie Okungbowa chronicle the criminal career of the man known as Kelvin of Kokori.
Since his criminal escapades propelled him into the top list of Niger Delta’s most wanted criminal, Kelvin Ibruvwe, has become a mystery of sort. He is so popular that he is known simply by his first name. He is diminutive, wealthy and impudent.
His hometown, Kokori, is an oil producing community in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State. It is one of the six suburban ‘states’ of Agbon kingdom with a population of between 50,000 and 100,000 persons, occupying about 196 square kilometres.
The fear of Kelvin was the beginning of wisdom in Kokori. Nobody crossed his path and went free. He was the defacto ruler of Kokori.
He is not unlike Lawrence Anini, the infamous armed robbery kingpin whose fame and notoriety spread through the country in the mid-80s.
Scores of verified and unverified sorties were attributed to him, so much so that he became known as the cat with nine lives.
Kelvin’s notoriety as a crime lord was cemented in 2012 with his brazen kidnap operation and deadly high profile armed robbery operation in Warri, Eku, Abraka and other parts of state. He was also fingered as the ring leader of a vast kidnap syndicate, whose operation spread beyond the state.
He placed his Kokori home town, one of the sub-clans that make up Agbon Kingdom in Ethiope East Local Government Area, on the world map, but for the wrong reason. The town has been tagged the headquarters of kidnappers in the Niger Delta region.
Reliable police sources said eight of every 10 robbery operations in the Osubi-Eku- Agbor axis of the state were either planned in Kokori or executed by gunmen trained by the young man. The reputation of the Urhobo town was not helped by reports that some prominent chiefs were shielding him and his criminal gangs from the law.
He was declared wanted by the Delta State Police Command earlier this year. The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, said the efforts of the police to arrest him were thwarted by community leaders in the area.
As bloody as he had been, Kelvin outperformed himself when he led a team to secure the release of his ally and fellow kidnap suspect, who was awaiting trial at the Okere Prison in Warri. Rufus, the suspect, and other suspects were being taken by wardens for a court appearance when they accosted them and opened fire on the prison vehicle, killing at least three wardens and two civilians before freeing their man.
Their getaway was as loud as the operation: they shot their way through the heavy traffic from Okere Road, through the NPA Expressway to Effurun Roundabout, where they left trails of blood, bloodied victims, bullet-riddled cars and thousands of panic-stricken residents in their wake.
It will be recalled, that Kelvin Ibruvwe was arrested Wednesday, September 25, 2013, a week after declaring a 60-day ultimatum on the Federal Government to provide infrastructure for his Urhobo kinsmen in Delta State, or face devastating destruction of oil and gas production facilities in the area. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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