THE Nigeria Police Force has arrested a suspected kidnapper reportedly linked to the abduction and murder of Nabeeha, one of the victims kidnapped in Abuja.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, disclosed this in a press statement on January 28.
According to him, Bello Mohammed, 28, of Zamfara state was apprehended on January 20, 2024 in Kaduna with N2.25 million in suspected ransom money.
Part of the statement reads, “The Divisional Police Officer, Tafa Division, acting on intelligence, raided one hotel in Tafa Area, Kaduna, where he arrested Bello, with the sum of #2.25m (Two Million, two hundred and fifty million naira) only, suspected to be proceeds of ransoms collected from kidnapped victims within the area.”
“The suspect, during interrogation, confessed to be part of the gang that kidnapped the family members of one Barrister Ariyo in Bwari, FCT, on 2nd January 2024, and killed some kidnapped victims, including Nabeeha, F, daughter of the legal practitioner, on 13th January, 2024, in a kidnappers camp, in Kaduna State.
‘’The suspect, in a dramatic situation, offered #1,000,000 (one million naira only) to induce the DPO, who rejected the offer and carried out his duty diligently,” the statement said.
Adejobi said the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, had ordered that the suspect, be handed over to the Department of Force Intelligence Tactical Teams (DFI-IRT) in Abuja for discreet investigations.
The ICIR reported how Nabeeha, a 400-level student of biological science at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria was abducted alongside six other siblings.
After about two weeks in captivity, the bandits killed Nabeeha over the inability of the family to pay the ransom demanded. The remaining five girls regained freedom after spending 18 days in captivity.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.