THE Edo State Police command has arrested a suspect, Jonas Ehis, in connection with the Igueben train station attack and kidnapping which occurred in January 20123.
The 26-year-old suspect was apprehended for allegedly murdering one Gazali Hassan on August 31, 2024, following a motorcycle theft.
The Edo State Police public relations officer, Moses Yamu, revealed this during a press briefing in Benin, where the suspect and 11 others were paraded for various crimes.
Yamu said the suspect was arrested on September 1, 2024, after a police surveillance team intercepted a motorcycle carrying him and two others.
“During questioning, a Techno Spark 9 handset in the suspect’s possession received an incoming call.
“The call was put on hands-free, during which the caller stated that the owner of the phone by name Gazali Hassan went missing on August 31 with his motorcycle.
“On the strength of the revelation, the investigation was launched, and findings were that the suspects killed the said Gazali Hassan and took his motorcycle,” Yamu stated.
Yamu revealed that further investigations yielded the arrest of seven additional suspects, allegedly responsible for terrorising the Edo central senatorial district.
He added that the suspects are linked to the robbery at Osigholo filling station and the fatal attack and kidnapping at Igueben train station in 2023.
The 26-year-old suspect confessed to earning N2 million from the Igueben train station attack and kidnapping, Yamu said, adding that: “He claimed to have served as a logistic provider for the other perpetrators, utilizing his motorcycle.”
Recall that in January 2023, the Edo State police command said suspected gunmen attacked the Igueben train station in Edo State and abducted scores of passengers waiting to board a train to Warri, Delta State.
Many of the travellers were also reportedly injured in the incident that happened on the fateful Saturday evening.
The then Public Relations Officer of the command, Chidi Nwabuzor, had confirmed the incident to The ICIR in a telephone chat.
Nwabuzor narrated in a statement he released earlier that the abductors, armed with AK 47, invaded the train station and shot sporadically into the air before abducting scores of intending travellers into the bush.
He added that many of the passengers sustained bullet wounds.
The incident happened months after an Abuja-Kaduna train was attacked on March 28, 2022, resulting in the death of about 14 passengers, while 63 others were officially declared abducted and later released after several months.
A reporter with the ICIR
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