Police Arrest Three Suspects in the Kidnap/Murder of Catholic Seminarian in Kaduna State

…As IGP orders massive manhunt for remaining fleeing suspects

BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – The Nigeria Police Force Headquarters on Sunday April 26, 2020, announced that its operatives have arrested a deadly criminal gang responsible for the kidnap and murder of a Catholic Seminarian, Nnadi Michael of the Catholic Good Shepherd Major Seminary at Gonin Gora, Kakau in Chikun LGA of Kaduna State.

The Police in a statement by its Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba noted that on January 9, 2020, the criminal gang stormed the Catholic Seminary and kidnapped four (4) seminarians, murdered one of them in cold blood and released the remaining three on January 31, 2020, after collecting ransom.

DCP Mba said that the remains of the fourth Seminarian were found in a bush where it was abandoned.

The suspects according to the police include; Tukur Usman ‘m’ aged 37, father of 7, Shehu Bello ‘m’ aged 40, father of 5 and Mustapha Mohammed ‘m’ aged 30, father of 1, all of Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The police further said that the suspects were arrested after several months of intensive and extensive intelligence-led operations by crack detectives of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT).

DCP Mba further said; “Discreet investigations so far revealed that the arrested suspects are part of a 19-man gang that also carried out the kidnap of Dr Phillip Ataga’s wife and two daughters on January 24, 2020 at Juji Community in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

“Mrs Ataga was killed by the gang following her heroic resistance to the despicable and inhuman attempt by the leader of the gang to rape her. The suspects after killing her, released the daughters and corpse of the slain woman to the family after collecting ransom.”

The police also said that further investigations revealed that the same criminal gang is responsible for the kidnap of six students and two teachers of Engravers College, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, from their school premises on October 3, 2019.

According to Mba; “The suspects, known to belong to a hybrid terrorist criminal network causing untold havoc in North-Central, Nigeria, have confessed to several other random operations along Abuja-Kaduna Expressway where they kidnapped, killed and robbed motorists, collecting ransom and valuables running into millions of naira.”

The Force PRO said that the Inspector-General of Police, (IGP) Mohammed Adamu, while reiterating that the Force will remain unrelenting in ensuring that crimes across the country are reduced to the barest minimum, assured the nation that the Force will not rest until the other members of the gang also responsible for the above crimes, but currently on the run, are apprehended and brought to book.