The remains of a white man whose car plunged into the Eleme River in Rivers State, South-South Nigeria, have been recovered, the police said on Tuesday.
The police had launched a search-and-rescue operation in the state after a Toyota Hilux van carrying company workers, including a foreign national, plunged into the Okulu River on Monday night.
The vehicle was reportedly part of a convoy ambushed by armed kidnappers on the East-West Road in Eleme, causing the driver to lose control and veer off the bridge into the river.
However, the state police command on Tuesday, said it had recovered the remains of the expatriate identified as Mr. Gibson Reuben, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Rivers State Cassava Project Limited.
The Police Public Relations Officer of the Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, in a statement in Port Harcourt, said Reuben was the driver and the only occupant of the van.
She said: “The Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Police Command, CP Olugbenga A Adepoju, has visited the scene of a gruesome attack on the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Rivers State Cassava Project Limited, Mr Gibson Reuben, an expatriate from the Netherlands.
“The incident occurred on Monday, 13th January, 2025, at about 2030hrs at Aleto Eleme Bridge, where unknown gunmen ambushed Reuben’s vehicle, causing him to lose control and crash into the river.
“Fortunately, the Mobile Police personnel accompanying Reuben managed to escape, but he and the Hilux Van are still submerged in the water. A search party led by the Command’s Marine Unit has since been constituted to rescue the expatriate who is also the driver in charge of the Hilux van.
“The search party’s efforts resulted in the recovery of the lifeless body of the expatriate Mr Gibson Reuben and the White colour Toyota Hilux Van. The recovery of the body and vehicle brings somber end to the rescue efforts.
“CP Olugbenga A. Adepoju was accompanied by the Area Commander Eleme, DPOs within the Eleme Area Command and tactical teams of the command already at the scenes. The CP at the scene strongly condemned the attack as ‘very barbaric’ and has ordered a full scale investigation with immediate arrest of the perpetrators of this reprehensible act, vowing to bring them to justice.”
