TheCable

Oyawerikumor Peregbabofa, suspected militant leader, who was declared wanted and accused of killing Ian Squire (pictured), a British missionary, has surrendered to Operation Delta Safe, the joint task force in the Niger Delta.

Suleiman Apochi, commander of the task force, told Channels Television that the suspect surrendered under superior firepower during a JTF operation.

Peregbabofa and others allegedly abducted four British missionaries – David and Shirley Donovan, Squire, and Alanna Carson, on October 13, 2017, at Enekorogha community in Burutu local government area of Delta state.

Three of those abducted regained their freedom afterwards, but Squire lost his life in the kidnappers’ den.

The suspect with JTF

Recounting how Squire was killed in an interview with The Telegraph, David said the late missionary had lifted the group’s spirit while playing Amazing Grace — a Christian song — with a guitar.

“It was the perfect song, and at that point things began to look not quite as bad. But then, after Ian finished playing, he stood up, and a salvo of gunshots killed him instantly,” he had said in an interview with UK Telegraph.

“We didn’t see who did it, but it was obvious that someone in the gang had shot him. It was terrifying to see. We jumped out of the shack and into the water as we thought they were coming for us next, but a member of the gang came and put us back in there with Ian for the rest of the day.”

Shirley and Carson had also feared they may be sexually assaulted by any of the 14 gang-members who “spent much of their time playing violent videos and loud, sexually suggestive rap music on their mobiles.”

“But thankfully the gang leader told his men that if they so much as touched the women, he would kill them personally,” David recounted.

“At one point, the ‘General’ — leader of the gang — lashed an underling 50 times across his bare buttocks for falling asleep on guard duty.”

Daily Telegraph quoted them as saying the guards were overheard talking about selling them to the Boko Haram insurgent group.