The
three men alleged to have kidnapped and killed the human resources manager of
the Dangote Industries Limited, Istifanus Bello, have said he was murdered for
bringing incomplete ransom.
The
suspects – Abdullahi Saliu, Babuga Adamu and Abubakar Gide said that Bello got
them angry after bringing N5.6m instead of the N10m agreed for the release of
four expatriates earlier kidnapped by their gang.
They
said Bello was killed after he had been held for three days because he
allegedly refused to call his employer to pay the balance of N4.4m.
It was reported that Bello
had gone to the Ijebu-Igbo area of Ogun State with N5.6m as ransom payment for
the four expatriates.
While
the foreigners were released, he was abducted and later killed.
His
corpse was reportedly recovered from a river by the police.
Investigations
by the Abba Kyari-led Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team
resulted in the arrest of Saliu, Adamu and Gide in Lagos, Kwara and Ogun
states.
The
men, who were Fulani herdsmen, were on Tuesday transferred from the Force
headquarters in Abuja to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, Lagos, pending
the conclusion of investigation.
In
a chat, the suspects, who spoke in Yoruba, said 10 of them carried out the
operation.
Twenty-year-old
Saliu, an indigene of Kano State, said they were led by one Alti, who fired the
shot that killed Bello.
He
said, “We were 10 that carried out the operation and we were all fully armed.
We had attacked and abducted the four expatriates while they worked in a quarry
located in a forest in Ijebu-Igbo; they were guarded by two policemen who had
an AK-47 rifle and a pump-action rifle. We surrounded the quarry, overpowered
the policemen and took one of their rifles. We didn’t touch them.
“We
then moved the expatriates into the forest where we fed them with bread and
soft drinks.
We
made contact with their families and the company and demanded N30m
ransom. We later reduced the money to N20m and then N10m.
“Some
days later, the man (Bello) brought N5.6m. Our leader, Alti, was angry and
after releasing the four expatriates, he seized the man.
He
said he must call his family members or the firm to pay up the remaining N4.4m
or else he would be killed in three days. But the man said he does not have any
number to give us and he does not have any money. After the three days elapsed
and nobody came for him, he was shot dead.”
Saliu
said he was paid N150,000 from the ransom after which he left the group.
It was learnt that the
suspects dumped the victim’s corpse in a river and tied it to a log to prevent
the corpse from floating.
Another
suspect, Adamu, 25, said he had persuaded Alti against killing the victim,
adding that the leader rebuked him.
“I
was given N190,000 for my role. I still have the bulk of the money. When the
man brought the ransom, I was the one that led the group to take the money. I
was able to do this because I have lived in Ijebu-Igbo for over 10 years; I was
brought up here. When Alti insisted on killing the man, I told him to take the
man far from where our cows graze; I said it was none of my business if he
killed him,” he added.
The
third suspect, 24-year-old Gide, from the Gumi Local Government Area of Sokoto
State, said Adamu made him to join the group.
He
said his role was to buy food for the expatriates.
A
source said that the police and some vigilance group members had first apprehended
Saliu and transferred him to the Ogun State Special Anti-Robbery Squad, adding
that when they didn’t have a breakthrough, the IGP team was invited.
He
said, “After we intervened, Saliu confessed to us and took us to where the
man’s corpse was.
It
was already decomposing when we found it. Fish had even picked out his eyes. We
contacted some council officials, who removed the corpse and deposited it in a
mortuary from where some employees of the Dangote company picked it.
“From
the information we gathered, we arrested Adamu’s brother, who gave us his
address in a forest in Epe, Lagos. We got him arrested around 2am while he was
fast asleep with other herdsmen in an open space.
“We
later moved to Kwara State to arrest the last suspect, Gide. A policeman had
pretended that he had a special assignment and he needed a woman and a hotel to
stay in, and since Gide was very familiar with the area, he believed he could
help out. After dribbling us for three days, he finally showed up and we
arrested him.
“We
are still searching for the remaining seven suspects, including the one with
the police gun which they took at the quarry; and we will get them.”
The
Force Public Relations Officer, Donald Awunnah, said investigations were
ongoing.
Source:Punch
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