History of a Notorious Armed robber Derico NWAMAMA

Derico Nwamama was a notorious criminal famous for terrorizing people in Eastern Nigeria.

His real name is Okwudili Ndiwe, and was 22 years old at the time.

Derico Nwamama hailed from Aguleri, Onitsha, in Anambra state. He rose from a pickpocket to a dreaded crime king.

He killed Chiejina, another hoodlum, before rising to prominence.

During his reign as crime king, he was based in Abuja and only visited the east to unleash terror.
After his successful operations, he would return to his base with his loot, safe in the laps of power, luxury, and comfort.

Derico once used the towns of Anambra as well as Agbor in Delta states as his main hideouts.

From there he would send letters threatening the police for killing men of his gang. He placed great trust in the charms prepared for him by the native doctors and always boasted of his invincibility; that no man born of woman could kill him. Deri as was also called, robbed banks, carted away millions of Naira and killed many in the process. He & his sinister gang also robbed luxurious interstate buses.

On December 2000, Derico attacked a 59-seater bus coming from Lagos at the popular Upper Iweka in Onitsha. After robbing the passengers he decided to kill all of them. Only four survived. That was the height of it all.

The then Governor of Anambra state; Chinwoke Mbadinuju (Odera), had no solution to the menace of Derico because he was said to be invisible and could not be arrested .

In May 2001, the Anambra State Police Command officially launched “Operation Derico”, a manhunt aimed at capturing the rampaging Derico and his gang members at all costs.

The police arrested some of Derico’s men, most importantly, Amobi, his bike driver but he was still elusive as he kept robbing, killing at will and kidnapping people for a ransom.

With the failure of Police and other security forces to capture Derico Nwamama, Governor Mbadinuju brought in BAKASSI BOYS.

In June 2001, Derico attacked a Police station to acquire weapons for a bank robbery in Asaba. He also began to work with other gangs to execute more daring robberies.