Three years after being declared wanted for his notorious criminal activities, a kidnap kingpin known as Kufre Ekpo Etim (a.k.a Romance) has been arrested by the Police in Calabar, Cross River State capital.
CONVERSEER gathered that Etim, known for kidnapping and armed robbery for about five years now, was arrested on Tuesday, February 28, 2023, by an undercover team from Anti Kidnapping and Cultism Squad (Dragon Squad), a tactical unit of the Police in Cross River.
Findings revealed that Romance, as he is popularly known has been terrorising the Calabar metropolis (South and Municipal) and its environs and some parts of Akwa Ibom State.
The kidnap kingpin and armed robber has killed scores and kidnapped dozens of medical doctors, lecturers especially from the University of Calabar (UNICAL), a businesswoman (Mrs Abomina) and a wife of a popular journalist.
However, he ran out of luck on Tuesday after he was arrested by the Dragon Squad led by SP Ogini Chukwuma behind the University of Cross River State (UNICROSS), following a tip from an anonymous source.
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A security source said Etim has been on the Government and Police wanted list for three years.
The source who pleaded anonymity said Romance was apprehended after a gun duel which left him incapacitated, while his gang members escaped.
Confirming the arrest in a telephone call on Tuesday evening, the Commissioner of Police in Cross River, CP Sule Balarabe said that it was a big win for the police, the government and the good people of the state.
CP Sule said: “The notorious kidnap kingpin has been terrorising Cross River and part of a neighbouring state for years – we are glad that he has been apprehended, he has been on the wanted list for five years and we finally picked him up”.
