The police on Sunday announced the arrest of a kidnapper who was allegedly linked to the murder of Abuja final-year student Nabeeha.
The bandit was is identified as 28-year-old Bello Muhammad, from Zamfara state.
A statement by the force spokesperson Olumuyiwa Adejobi in Sunday said the bandit was arrested on January 20, 2024, in Kaduna state.
“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 thousand 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 Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM, has ordered that the suspect, who also confessed to the involvement of the already five (5) neutralized bandits in Kaduna by the IRT, headed by one Mai Gemu (aka Godara), whose deadly camp has also been destroyed, be handed over to the DFI-IRT in Abuja for discreet investigations into the matter and arrest of all other culprits responsible for the dastardly act. The suspect is currently helping the police in their investigations.
“While commending the DPO Tafa, SP Idris Ibrahim, for the commitment and professionalism displayed in the case, he further assured that the Police would leave no stone unturned in decimating criminally minded individuals and bequeathing to Nigerians a more secure society for all and sundry in our dear country, Nigeria.”
Nabeeha was kidnapped alongside her father and five sisters in Bwari, Abuja.
They released her father and asked him to source for N50 million ransom. They later jerked up the ransom to N700 million.
The gunmen later killed Nabeeha and dumped her body for the family to retrieve.
The family, the through crowdfunding, raised a substantial amount of the ransom and secured the release of the five girls.
