Nigeria: Police Arrest Suspect Linked to Nabeeha's Death

28 January 2024

The Nigerian Police Force has arrested a suspected kidnapper reportedly linked to the abduction and murder of Nabeeha, one of the victims abducted in Abuja.

According to a statement by Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the Force Public Relations Officer, Bello Mohammed, 28, of Zamfara state was apprehended on January 20, 2024 in Kaduna with N2.25 million in suspected ransom money.

"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.

While commending the DPO Tafa, SP Idris Ibrahim, for the commitment and professionalism displayed in the case, the IGP further assured that the Police would leave no stone unturned in dealing with criminally minded individuals.

Daily Trust had reported how about 19 abductees were taken away by bandits from the Sagwari Estate Layout in the Dutsen-Alhaji area in the Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The kidnappers had killed four of the hostages, including Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar, a 400-level student of Biological Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and 13-year-old Folashade Ariyo.

Nabeeha was abducted alongside six other siblings.

Her siblings were kidnapped with their father, Alhaji Mansoor Al-Kadriyar, from their home at Zuma 1, on the outskirts of Bwari town in Abuja on January 2.

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